Ringling’s last 11 elephants will spend the rest of their lives at a 200 acre conservation center in Polk City. People no longer see elephants as circus performers, he said, “but sentient animals that are capable of a full range of human emotions”.
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The project is led by Joshua D. Schiffman, MD, a pediatric oncologist, and will be housed at the Center for Elephant Conservation in Polk City, Fla., according to Slate.
On Friday, 23 of the herd dined on the buffet. “It’s only a simple blood test that could hold the secret to why elephants don’t get cancer and how we might be able to save people from one of the worst diseases any family could ever hear”.
The move to bring the elephants to Ringling’s Centers for Elephant Conservation ends a 145-year tradition. There are 40 elephants in total, ranging from 6 years old to more than 70 years old.
The circus will continue to use tigers, dogs and goats, and a Mongolian troupe of camel stunt riders joined its Circus Xtreme show.
“For the Asian Elephant, there really is no pristine, Walt Disney endless roaming acres of wild”, adds Aria. He said the company didn’t decide to retire the elephants because they were anxious about any ill effects to the animals.
On the other hand, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey article is not so much appreciated. Since it aired, several entertainers pulled out of performances at SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. parks, and Southwest Airlines ended its marketing partnership.
Each elephant costs $65,000 a year to feed and take care of.
“It was bittersweet”, said Ryan Henning, assistant animal superintendent at the conservation center, founded in 1995 to breed and study Asian elephants, an endangered species.
The show itself had come under fire by animal rights advocates, which prompted the circus to phase out the elephants.
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In 2014, Feld Entertainment won $25.2 million in settlements from a number of animal-rights groups, including the Humane Society of the United States, ending a 14-year legal battle over allegations that Ringling circus employees mistreated elephants. Elephants, however, have a lower-than-expected rate of cancer, even though the odds are against them.
