Buba (elephant)

Buba is the most famous elephant in the Netherlands. She starred with Carice van Houten in the youth film "Knetter", worked for Pamela Anderson as an assistant to Hans Klok who made her disappear and had a role in the opera Aïda. Together with her trainer Lutz Freiwald, she was part the Freiwalds Menagerie Circus. Buba's origin is unknown. The website www.elephant.se Elephant Database[1] states otherwise, but confuses her with her old buddy Kenya. However, Kenya has been dead for many years. In 1994 Kenya and Buba appeared together in the arena of the Dutch circus Royal. At the end of 2006 Buba was the subject of a radio advertisement of “ wilde dieren de tent uit” (translated: "wild animals out of the tent"). The spotlight had a picture of her life that absolutely did not correspond to the truth. The founder of the Classic Circus Committee lodged an objection with the Advertising Code Committee against the content of the commercials. On the basis of the evidence provided, the complaint was upheld and the advertising declared misleading (RCC file 08.0024). On the website of "wilde dieren de tent uit", the then campaign manager Jeroen van Kernebeek reacted quite surprised that their commercial was found to be misleading precisely because of the arguments of animal welfare.[2]

The stay of circus elephants became a broad discussion over the years. In December 2020 it was stated that Buba could stay in the Netherlands as the only and last circus elephant.[3][4][5][6]