After Africa, Alex, Marty, Melman, Gloria, and Y/N, Alex's sister, they leave to go get the penguins so they can go back to New York. Once done, they end getting the attention of Captain Chantel Dubois, the head of animal control in Monte Carlo. On their journey, they come across a European circus, where Y/N and the Russian tiger, Vitaly, instantly connect. But they realize that the circus they bought, well, sucks. They make a comeback, but they're still on the run from Dubois. Will they go home or realize the circus is where they need to be?
The gang find a way to escape from Madagascar when the penguins reassemble a wrecked airplane. The precariously repaired craft stays airborne just long enough to make it to the African continent. There the New Yorkers encounter members of their own species for the first time. Africa proves to be a wild place, but Alex and company wonder if it is better than their Central Park home.