Ringling Bros., the circus company, announced that it would retire its elephants by May 2016.
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Past year in March, Feld Entertainment announced that the performances would be phased out by 2018. In total, there will be 42 elephants at the center.
But the circus has also faced controversy for their use of the animals, with rights groups alleging the elephants faced abuse.
Feld Entertainment, the parent company of Ringling Bros., has announced a faster time table for taking the creatures out of its act.
Ringling Bros. Producer and Feld Entertainment Executive Vice President Alana Feld said the company’s “commitment to save the majestic Asian elephant will continue through [their] breeding program, research and conservation efforts”. The circus now has 43 elephants on tour, with 29 others residing at the 200-acre Center for Conservation. That care requires the construction of new structures to house the retiring elephants.
” PETA warns that because the circus has refused to retire these elephants to an accredited sanctuary, vigilance will be needed to determine how they are treated”, Newkirk said in a statement. Last year, California lawmakers passed legislation to ban bullhooks, but Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the bill, though not because of any sympathy for people using the implements to strike elephants.
The city of Asheville, North Carolina, also nixed wild or exotic animals from performing in the 7,600-seat U.S. Cellular Center. Although the two circuses were run separately for 12 years, in 1919, the shows merged to become Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows Inc. Blood samples from the elephants are being used for pediatric cancer research.
Scientists say cancer is rare in elephants, even though they have more cells than humans.
Circuses such as Cirque de Soleil and the Big Apple Circus have been popular without any animal acts, as The Christian Science Monitor has reported.
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The American public is now widely aware that elephants are incredibly intelligent creatures and the procedures employed in order to “train” an elephant to perform in the way the circus requires is nearly always abusive and damaging to the mental health of the animal. P.T. Barnum brought an Asian elephant named Jumbo to America in 1882.
