The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is ending its elephant acts a year and a half early, and will retire the animals in May. They will join the rest now at the center for a total of 42 elephants. The company cites the fact that they were able to build the enclosures at the elephant sanctuary a little faster than previously thought, but could there be another reason why the move is happening quicker?
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The news comes nearly a year after Feld Entertainment announced the elephants would be phased out and eventually retired by 2018.
The journey from Rhode Island and Pennsylvania to Florida is not expected to take too long, Payne says, and both the trucks and train will stop regularly to allow the elephants to get out and stretch their legs. In 2014, Feld Entertainment won a multi-million settlement against a collection of animal-rights groups, including the Humane Society of the United States, over unproven allegations that the circus was mistreating elephants. With the number of local ordinances of “anti-circus” and “anti-elephant” enforced throughout the country, it became increasingly hard for Ringling to plan their three traveling circuses in 115 cities each year. Barnum & Bailey Circus, told the media that the retiring elephants will be sent to its Center for Elephant Conservation facility.
“The use of wild animals in circuses is cruel and demeaning and I think the writing is on the wall for this practice”, he said.
Ringling’s new show will begin in July without the giant pachyderms.
The decision by the Ringling Brothers was no doubt an economic one as growing social opinion against the use of elephants in their act has grown in recent years, no doubt hurting profits.
Last fall, a group of scientists revealed that elephant cells possess 20 copies of the “major cancer-suppressing” gene known as the p53 gene.
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However, some animal rights advocates, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said sending the animals to the Ringling’s conrvation center is a far from satisfactory outcome.
