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Ringling Bros. retiring elephants from circus
Brett Smith for redOrbit.com – @ParkstBrett
“As a general thing, I have not ‘duped the world’ nor attempted to do so… I have generally given people the worth of their money twice told.”
– P.T. Barnum.
Elephants have long been an iconic part of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, but bittersweetly, after 145 years, the pachyderms are being retired from The Greatest Show on Earth by 2018.
“This decision was not easy, but it is in the best interest of our company, our elephants and our customers,” said Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s parent company, Feld Entertainment.
Changing attitudes & conservation
The decision comes as the company senses changing attitudes in the public surrounding the treatment and exposition of captive animals.
“A lot of people aren’t comfortable with us touring with our elephants,” Alana Feld, a Feld Entertainment executive, recently told the Associated Press.
[STORY: Rare white elephant discovered in Myanmar]
In a press release, the company said it will continue to work with elephants. However, this work will be in a conservation, not an entertainment, context.
“No other institution has done or is doing more to save this species from extinction,” Kenneth Feld said, “and that is something of which I and my family are extremely proud.”
Abuse allegations
Some reports cited a 2011 article in Mother Jones as the eventual impetus for the retiring of the elephants.
“Ringling elephants spend most of their long lives either in chains or on trains, under constant threat of the bullhook, or ankus—the menacing tool used to control elephants,” wrote the article’s author Deborah Nelson.
[STORY: The mechanics of an elephants voice]
The Humane Society of the United States and other animal welfare groups made public abuse allegations against the circus, but Ringling Bros. prevailed in a long legal battle against the groups in 2014, winning a nearly $16-million settlement.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Asian Elephants
Even after the announcement by the circus, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called for the retirement process to be expedited.
“Three years is too long for a mother elephant separated from her calf, too long for a baby elephant beaten with the sharp fireplace-poker-like weapons called bull hooks that Ringling handlers use routinely, too long for an animal who roams up to 30 miles a day in the wild to be kept in shackles,” PETA president Ingrid E. Newkirk said in a statement.
In making the announcement, Kenneth Feld did cite his company’s conservation efforts surrounding Asian elephants, the type of elephant that appears in their shows.
[STORY: Ancient Britons hunted elephants]
“This is the most significant change we have made since we founded the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation in 1995. When we did so, we knew we would play a critical role in saving the endangered Asian elephant for future generations, given how few Asian elephants are left in the wild,” Feld said.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, there are currently 41,000 to 52,000 Asian elephants left in the wild. Human interactions, habitat loss and the ivory trade are typically cited as reasons for their Endangered status.
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Source: http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113347896/ringling-bros-retiring-elephants-from-circus-030615/
