On 13th August 2026, Hungary enacted Government Decree 124/2026 (VIII. 13.), banning the use of wild animals in circuses across the country from 1st January 2027, as reported by the Hungarian Gazette.
The ban follows decades of campaigning by animal rights groups and arrives less than six months after Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s landslide election victory in April. Hungary becomes the latest EU member state to introduce such a measure, with the government citing growing public demand for the protection of wild animals as its main justification.
The decree covers 25 groups of animals, including elephants, primates, big cats, and bears, and extends to hybrids of these animals up to the fourth generation. Domestic species such as dogs, cats, and horses are excluded from the ban (which is common in most bans of this type in Europe).
Circuses will be permitted to phase out banned acts gradually. Animals already owned by a circus cannot be trained, exhibited, or bred from the ban’s introduction onwards, but they may be kept by their current guardian for the remainder of their lives, removing the need for urgent rehoming.
Raul Vida, CEO of vegan advocacy and lifestyle magazine Prove, said to Plant Based News, “This ban marks a long-awaited step forward for animal welfare in Hungary. It reflects decades of work by advocates, organisations and partners who kept this issue on the public and political agenda… I am proud to have been part of that effort.”
Shortly after the election, Magyar’s government created a new Ministry for the Living Environment, led by László Gajdos, a former zoo director. Gajdos has proposed a nationwide ban on den hunting, a practice in which dogs are sent underground to drive animals out of their homes, comparable to terrier work in fox hunting and badger culling in the UK.
