It was an emotional night in Columbus, Ohio, as crowds bid sayonara to a circus act that has entertained audiences for almost 150 years.
Advertisement
Elephants are leaving one of the best known circuses in the United States. A few years later, in 1998, a whistleblower tipped off the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to the death of Kenny, a 3-year-old Asian elephant traveling with the Ringling Bros.
“That’s history right there ladies and gentlemen”, ringmaster Johnathan Lee Iverson told a roaring crowd inside the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, R.I., the circus’s final stop of its “Legends” show circuit.
The last Providence show will stream live on Facebook and at Ringling.com at 7:45 p.m. In the early 1800s, Hackaliah Bailey added the elephant “Old Bet” to his circus.
But animal protection group the Humane Society has called for elephants to be retired to one of two larger 2,000-acre sanctuaries in California and Tennessee.
The last 11 performing elephants are being transported on Monday to the 200-acre Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida owned by Ringling, which seems pretty swanky, but may not be the elephant nirvana it appears on the surface.
There, the former stage performers will roam, hang out and play with an assortment of toys, balls and even massive truck tires leftover from Feld Entertainment’s Monster Jam events.
Happy retirement: The animals will spend the rest of their days at the Centre for Elephant Conservation. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can.
Masson said elephants rarely form true bonds with humans, instead remaining indifferent to their caretakers.
Ringling Bros. announced last March that it would be retiring its elephants by 2018, later moving the date up to May 2016.
Animal rights groups have long alleged that Ringling abuses its animals with its protocol for both performance, training and living conditions, and have taken the circus to court on multiple occasions. “Do we celebrate this last day – yes”, said Chris DeRose, founder of Last Chance for Animals, one of the protesters outside the stadium here. “We believe it’s necessary in working with them and interacting with them”.
Advertisement
“Taking elephants out of the shows is only the first step”, said Rachel Mathews, PETA Foundation Capital Animal Law Enforcement counsel. Ringling Brothers says it will continue to use other animals like lions, tigers, and horses in their acts.
