Ringling elephants, a famed U.S. circus act, pack up trunks for retirement
Source: Reuters
Ringling elephants, a famed U.S. circus act, pack up trunks for retirement
By Barbara Goldberg
April 30, 2016
By Barbara Goldberg
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Elephants take a final bow at Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus on Sunday, ending a 145-year spectacle that delighted fans but enraged animal activists, who say the highly publicized retirement is not enough.
The last 11 elephants touring with "The Greatest Show on Earth" will leave behind their enormous studded tiaras and begin traveling on Monday to Ringling's 200-acre (80-hectare) Center for Elephant Conservation in central Florida, said Stephen Payne, spokesman for the circus' parent company, Feld Entertainment.
Bonnie, Juliette and nine other female Asian elephants are retiring earlier than originally planned, reflecting shifting U.S. attitudes toward animal entertainment. SeaWorld Entertainment Inc is phasing out killer whale shows at its amusement parks, halting the breeding of orcas in captivity as of last month and replacing the extravaganzas with what it terms educational encounters by 2019.
But the United States has a long way to go, say animal activist groups including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the International Fund for Animal Welfare and The Elephant Sanctuary.
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/ringling-elephants-famed-u-circus-act-pack-trunks-111309646.html?nhp=1
Images of the center for elephant conservation, owned by the circus, in Florida. I just saw it for the first time, and I really hope the circus personnel will not insist on dominating these wonderful beings in their new home, Hope they will have real freedom there, with the food and water they need available, and no punishment any more from humans. Hope the abuse is completely in their past:
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1456&bih=661&q=center+for+elephant+conservation+in+fl&oq=Center+for+Elephant+Conservation+&gs_l=img.1.8.0i30j0i24l9.1493.1493.0.12265.1.1.0.0.0.0.103.103.0j1.1.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..0.1.100.9wqxkbWEP9I#hl=en&tbm=isch&q=center+for+elephant+conservation+
ret5hd
(20,433 posts)christx30
(6,241 posts)Lesser of two evils.
Judi Lynn
(160,211 posts)we can hope, although you never really know when a corporation controls the operation, do you?
We can hope that this won't end people's concern for these beings, and there will be enough eyes on them that there will always be the possibility of moving them one more time to a place where they will be completely safe, and in NO DANGER of abuse ever again.
At least they are not being forced by people with weapons to "perform" for ignorant nutballs who need too much suffering by animals to be entertained.
lastlib
(22,978 posts)the GOPher 16- (or was it 17?)-clown circus....
sofa king
(10,857 posts)Judi Lynn
(160,211 posts)out on an ice floe they insist won't be melting.
Baobab
(4,667 posts)as fellow sentient beings.
Maybe there is hope for humanity.
RedRocco
(454 posts)bamademo
(2,193 posts)Cal Carpenter
(4,959 posts)The circus is not dead.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Your concern and melodrama is bemusing.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)How about Russia? they have captured several wild Orcas and sell them off to countries that love these "circus shows"
China also imported 80? young elephants, probably starting a breeding farm for ivory and circus shows and elephant 'meat'.
GOLGO 13
(1,681 posts)crap, tiger piss mixed in with burnt popcorn for 90+ minutes is abhorrent.
Kablooie
(18,571 posts)turned out to be nothing but standing still and dropping load after load to drum hits.
When it was done the elephant master had it bow and they left the ring.
Fun for one and all.