NEWS

Ringling Bros. Circus to give up elephant acts in 3 years

Tamara Lush

POLK CITY, Fla. (AP) – The family that owns the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus won’t say just what it was that made them finally decide to remove elephant acts from the “Greatest Show on Earth.”

The move announced Thursday is bittersweet and didn’t come easily, Feld family members said as they broke the news to The Associated Press.

Elephants have symbolized this circus since P.T. Barnum brought an Asian elephant named Jumbo to America in 1882. Animals have been part of their show since Barnum formed his “traveling menagerie” in 1870.

“It was a decision 145 years in the making,” said Juliette Feld, who now helps run the circus company with her sisters and father, Feld Enterprises Inc. President Kenneth Feld.

Carol Bradley, the author of the book “Last Chain on Billie: How One Extraordinary Elephant Escaped the Big Top,” which is about a non-Ringling circus elephant, said she believes the Feld family “realized it was a losing PR battle.”

“This is an enormous, earth-moving decision,” Bradley, a Great Falls resident, said. “When I heard the news, my jaw hit the floor. I never thought they’d change their minds about this.”

Bradley wondered if the Feld family’s decision had anything to do with the fallout for SeaWorld over the documentary “Blackfish,” which explored what may have caused the orca Tilikum to kill SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010.

The documentary argues that killer whales in captivity become more aggressive to humans and each other. Since it aired, several entertainers pulled out of planned performances at SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. parks, and Southwest Airlines ended its marketing partnership.

Animal rights groups immediately took credit Thursday, saying it was their pressure that led to Feld’s decision.

Kenneth Feld denied that.

“We’re not reacting to our critics; we’re creating the greatest resource for the preservation of the Asian elephant,” he said as he described plans to retire the company’s 13 performing elephants by 2018. They’ll join 29 other pachyderms at the company’s 200-acre Center for Elephant Conservation in central Florida.

But Feld acknowledged that because so many cities and counties have passed “anti-circus” and “anti-elephant” ordinances, it’s difficult to organize the tours of three traveling circuses visiting 115 cities throughout the year. Fighting legislation in each jurisdiction is expensive, he said.

“All of the resources used to fight these things can be put toward the elephants,” Feld said.

The Montana town of Ringling, between Livingston and White Sulphur Springs, was named after a family who were among the area’s early ranchers.

Animals from the circus frequently were housed at the ranch.

Several years ago in an interview with the Tribune, 86-year-old Montana rancher Paul Ringling — grandson of one of the original Ringling brothers – remembered working for the circus for several years starting in the late 1930s.

“The animals in the circus absolutely weren’t abused because every day the public saw all of those animals,” Ringling told the Tribune.

Los Angeles prohibited the use of bull-hooks by elephant trainers and handlers last April. Oakland, Calif. did likewise in December, banning the devices used to keep elephants in control. Last month, the city of Asheville, N.C., nixed wild or exotic animals from performing in the municipally-owned, 7,600-seat U.S. Cellular Center.

“There’s been somewhat of a mood shift among our consumers,” said Alana Feld, the company’s executive vice president. “A lot of people aren’t comfortable with us touring with our elephants.”

Ingrid E. Newkirk, the president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, says her group made that happen.

“For 35 years PETA has protested Ringling Bros.’ cruelty to elephants,” she wrote in a statement. “We know extreme abuse to these majestic animals occurs every single day, so if Ringling is really telling the truth about ending this horror, it will be a day to pop the champagne corks, and rejoice. … If the decision is serious, then the circus needs to do it NOW.”

Ringling also has been targeted by activists who say forcing animals to perform is cruel and unnecessary.

In 2014, Feld Entertainment won $25.2 million in settlements from animal-rights groups, including the Humane Society of the United States, ending a 14-year legal battle over allegations that circus employees mistreated elephants.

The initial lawsuit was filed by a former Ringling barn helper who accepted at least $190,000 from animal-rights groups. The judge called him “essentially a paid plaintiff” who lacked credibility and standing to sue, and rejected the abuse claims.

Kenneth Feld testified about the elephants’ importance to the show during that 2009 trial.

“The symbol of the ‘Greatest Show on Earth’ is the elephant, and that’s what we’ve been known for throughout the world for more than a hundred years,” he said.

Asked by a lawyer whether the show would be the same without elephants, Feld replied, “No, it wouldn’t.”

Asked again this week, Feld said, “Things have changed.”

Pat Cuviello, a San Mateo, California-based animal activist who has protested and videotaped Ringling’s animals since 1988, said he was ecstatic to hear the news.

“I hope at some point they get rid of all the animals in all the circuses,” he said.

For now, animals remain part of this circus: Tigers, dogs and goats are still performing, and a Mongolian troupe of camel stunt riders joined its Circus Xtreme show this year. But audiences can expect more motorsports, daredevils and feats of human physical capabilities to be showcased in the future.

In 2008, Feld acquired motor sports properties including monster truck shows, motocross and the International Hot Rod Association, which promotes drag races and other events. In 2010, it created a theatrical motorcycle stunt show called Nuclear Cowboyz. Roughly 30 million people attend Feld’s 5,000 live entertainment shows every year.

Ringling’s popular Canada-based competitor, Cirque du Soleil, features human acts and doesn’t use wild animals.

But elephants are still being used by other, smaller circuses in the U.S. — and in places like Russia, France and Thailand.

With a total of 43 elephants, Feld owns the largest herd in North America, and spends about $65,000 yearly to care for each one. New structures will be needed to house the retiring elephants at the rural center, which is close enough to Orlando to attract tourists eventually if that’s what Feld decides to offer.

Kenneth Feld said initially the center will be open only to scientists and others studying the Asian elephant, but he “hopes it expands to something the public will be able to see.”

“I want everybody’s grandkids to be able to see Asian elephants,” he said.

The center’s youngest elephant is Mike, who will be 2 in August, and the oldest is Mysore, who is 69. One elephant, 6-year-old Barack, was conceived by artificial insemination. Since the center opened in 1995, 26 elephants have been born there.

After Feld’s father bought the circus in 1967, he did away with a sideshow featuring human acts such as the bearded lady and other human oddities, he said.

“We’re always changing and we’re always learning,” Feld said.