The shameful era of exploiting elephants for human entertainment by America’s largest circus company is set to come to an end even earlier than expected.
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Animal welfare groups said concerns persist over the company’s breeding program and use of elephants for research.
Feld Entertainment originally had said elephants would be gradually withdrawn from the big top and completely gone only by 2018, but it now has accelerated that retirement date. Feld Entertainment CEO Kenneth Feld said a year ago that fighting legislation in each jurisdiction is expensive. For instance, the city of Asheville, North Carolina has prohibited exotic animals from performing in its huge multi-purpose arena.
With production of the next edition of The Greatest Show On Earth underway, Feld Entertainment plans to unveil the details of Ringling Bros. newest, out of this world experience in April 2016. “We’re looking at a lot of new ways of doing things”. Once the company began planning, it realized it could retire the elephants a lot sooner, Feld said. “This transition will also allow us to fully focus on the role our elephants have in the pioneering pediatric cancer research project with Dr. Schiffman”. Though nothing has been proven, researchers believe that elephants may one day hold the key to successfully protecting humans from developing various forms of cancer in the future. The gene helps damaged cells fix themselves or self-destruct when exposed to cancer-causing substances.
“We’re always changing and we’re always learning”, said Feld. But, bowing to criticism from animal rights groups, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced on March 5, 2015, it will phase out use of their emblematic Indian stars.
On Monday, Ingrid Newkirk, the president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, called on Ringling to end all animal acts and that “vigilance will be needed to determine how they are treated” at the Florida sanctuary.
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The circus has since sped up its efforts and now plans to move the elephants there this year. P.T. Barnum brought an Asian elephant named Jumbo to America in 1882.
