Circus Elephants: The Abuse Behind the Tents

Elephants are beautiful majestic animals that have kind and caring personalities. Despite being the largest land animals, elephants are uniquely gentle. They are very social beings who can live for up to 70 years. They eat 300-400 pounds of plants, grass, and bark daily, can walk up to 50 miles per day, and often enjoy washing themselves with their trunks. Pregnancy lasts for nearly 22 months, and when the babies are finally born, they stay with their mothers and the rest of the herd at least until they mature at 12-15 years. Elephants are highly intelligent; they maintain a complex social structure and complex communication skills, and they have a long memory span.

Unfortunately, these animals are at risk of extinction. There are less than 700,000 African elephants, and less than 40,000 Asian elephants in the wild today. The threat of extinction, however, is not the only hazard these animals are facing.

What draws people to the circus? The performances? The animals? The circus concept is heavily linked with elephants, and multiple circuses do utilize elephants in their acts. These animals perform handstands, wear outfits, and spin on command.

This video comes straight from the Barnum and Bailey Circus Website, featuring the elephants in the show:

Unfortunately, none of the elephants that are in the video above are happy or well taken care of. Circuses that use animals, particularly elephants, have become notorious for their treatment of animals. The bullhook (right) has become an infamous tool associated with the suffering of elephants at the hands of their trainers. Elephants are struck with these tools on their trunks, ears, chin, legs, feet, and anywhere else that is not very noticable to the public. The goal is to cause extensive pain and bleeding so that the animal does what it is told out of fear. As can be heard in the video below, these elephants let out heartbreaking screams of pain when abused with bullhooks, whips, electric probes, and other tools that, if applied to humans, would be considered torture:

http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=carson_barnes

Elephants that are sick or injured are forced to perform under those circumstances. Elephants can weigh up to 15,000 pounds - can you imagine putting all of that weight into something as unnatural as a handstand? In the wild, elephants can live to be 70 years old; unfortunately, the majority of elephants that travel with a circus are not that lucky. As the video below shows, many baby elephants have died while in the “care” of Ringling Bros. Circus. Mothers form deep bonds with their babies and with others in their herd, but in the circus, these babies are taken from their mothers very early, sometimes before the mother has the opportunity to even touch her baby. Normally, male baby elephants remain with their mothers until around 15 yrs of age, and females remain in the herd for life. The baby elephants in the video below are nowhere near that 15-year mark, and are also nowhere near their mothers.

Elephants that suffer from stiff joints, arthritis, psychological stress, or other painful/debilitating problems are forced to continue in the performances. Elephants are not only beaten during training, but they are beaten moments before going onstage to perform. Despite the fact that these animals are not acting out, brutal force is used against them. This video depicts that force, as well as abuse against wild cats:



In the wild, elephants will sometimes walk up to 50 miles per day. They play with each other, they play in water, and they are extremely social. In the circus, however, these animals are chained up in small spaces and receive none of the necessary freedom that they are granted in the wild. When transported, they may be held in a cage from 20-70 hours at a time (1). Many of these elephants, even babies, have exhibited psychological problems due to their environmental conditions, such as swaying their heads or feet back and forth (1). Although they are normally gentle creatures, the physical and psychological abuse that these elephants receive have led to aggression and violent outbursts during performances. Unfortunately, this misleads people into believing that elephants are wild and aggressive animals, making someone’s ability to tame them that much more “impressive.”

These animals, much like all of the other animals mentioned in this blog, are “protected” by the Animal Welfare Act. Enforcement of the act, however, has obviously been very light. The USDA has cited Ringing Bros. specifically for a number of violations of the AWA in the last ten years:
- improper handling
- inadequate vet care
- causing unnecessary trauma or discomfort
- endangering tigers because of poor maintenance
- unsanitary feeding (2)

Since 1992, at least 26 elephants have died in Ringling’s hands, and one lion died of heatstroke while being transported through the Mojave Desert (2).

The following excerpts have been taken directly from the FAQ portion on the Ringling Bros. Website at http://www.ringling.com/TextContent.aspx?id=11810&parentID=320&assetFolderID=342:

- Our expert handlers watch closely as their animals socialize, then create routines based on natural behavior. We use voice recognition and rewards to encourage the animals to learn a set routine. This process ensures that our animals are relaxed when they are displaying their natural behaviors to patrons in an entertaining fashion.
(I have found zero footage documenting this type of care and training)
- Calves born under the care of Ringling Bros. remain with their natural mothers until old enough to be properly weaned, usually 2 years
(videos have shown that elephants are taken away from their mothers within seconds of birth - additionally, baby elephants usually remain with their mothers as long as 15 years, meaning that removing baby elephants even at 2 years of age is cruel)
- Ringling Bros. loves animals as much as you do!

A basic search of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service records of the USDA, the “enforcer” of the AWA, brought back documents from which I’ve pulled the following quotes by inspectors:
“There were several bottles of chemicals and soaps adjacent to uncovered thawing meat [meant for the animals]” - Franzen Bros Circus, January 2010
“Five tigers…are group housed in an enclosure in a big rig trailer…compatibility issues have become evident” - Circus Winter Quarters, April 2008

Some circuses have been impacted by animal rights activists: Walker Bros Circus, for example, has pulled elephants out of their acts, and hopefully a similar impact has been made for other animals. The following link provides a large list of mainstream circuses that link to information compiled by PETA that documents inadequate care and neglect of animals in custody:
http://www.circuses.com/circuses.asp

Unfortunately, elephants are not the only animals who suffer in the circus. The following video depicts cruel treatment to wild cats:
http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=tigereyeprod

For (many) more videos, visit this link to PETA:
http://www.petatv.com/circ.html

Problems with animals in entertainment has become a big issue among people in entertainment.

Actor Wilmer Valderrama, from That 70’s Show and other screen appearances, is only one of those who have gotten behind the effort to eliminate live animals in circus shows



Actress Olivia Munn has gotten involved in this issue, and has teamed up with PETA to combat circuses that continue to use elephants and other live animals:


Olivia Munn's Exclusive Interview for PETA

Alec Baldwin has gotten behind the issue:
http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=cheaptricks

And Civil Rights Activist Dick Gregory has gotten behind the issue, comparing it to slavery and the slave trade:
http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=circus_slave_trade

It is very sad that these animals who have the potential to live as long as a human, and are already dwindling in the wild, are living short lives due to human neglect and are disappearing at an even faster rate from their natural environments simply to please a crowd. Among those countries that have banned or restricted the use of animals in entertainment are India, Costa Rica, Sweden, Austria, Finland and Singapore (3). In the United States, only 9 states have enacted laws restricting animal acts (4).

Go back up to the top of this article when you are done reading and re-watch the video from the Barnum and Bailey website - don't the elephants look kind of silly, and sadly, pathetic? These animals are gorgeous animals! Personally, I'm against even dressing up my cat or dog - I'm definitely not entertained by an elephant that is dressed up and tortured for "entertainment." I'm interested in how the reader reacts to this information and the video, I encourage comments!
Hopefully this information has convinced you to, at the very least, never again attend a circus that uses live animals. If a circus comes to town, it may be worth it to drop by with a camera and try to take some photos of the conditions of the animals, or stage an event (protests/tabling) against the circus.

The following is a list of animal-free circuses (such as Cirque du Soleil)!
http://www.circuses.com/pdfs/AnimalFreeCircuses.pdf

You can send an electronic letter to newspapers in your area about the conditions that animals suffer in the circus! Just click on the link below:
https://secure.peta.org/site/LteUser?lte.user=lte_resolve_zip<e_id=4001

Encourage your children’s teachers to visit http://www.teachkind.org/, a site that supplies free information, materials, and methods to teach kids about animal issues.

Send an electronic letter to the Secretary of Agriculture urging the USDA to revoke Ringling‘s license:
https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3046
and to seize the elephants from Ringling and send them to a sanctuary:
https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2359

Citations

1. http://www.petakids.com/helpelephants.asp

2. http://www.ringlingbeatsanimals.com/about-ringling.asp

3. http://www.circuses.com/

4. http://www.circuses.com/pdfs/AnimalActs_Legislation.pdf

Additional Sources

- http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/asian-elephant/

- http://www.awf.org/content/wildlife/detail/elephant

- www.peta.org

- http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/elephant.php#