Circus Elephants

For many children, going to the circus and seeing all the tricks the animals can do is something that is looked forward to all year, but behind the scenes, the animals, treatment does not show the same kind of fun and joy. Elephants are a big attraction for crowds of people in the United States. The treatment of these animals is the only way to maximize their life expectancy. This is very important because elephants are disappearing with their habitats and should be protected against extinction. Putting them in unnatural climates and habitats like at the circus, or the animals that are kept at different locations for movies, does not provide an adequate lifestyle for these majestic creatures. Along with trying to inform our society of the animals, we are shortening their lives in the process. The United States needs to open more sanctuaries for these large creatures and give them room to roam. Instead of having the animals do tricks in the circus, they should get the most natural atmosphere, which sanctuaries could provide.

Ever been to the circus to see the elephants do trick, perhaps you saw one stand on their heads? This trick is famous because the mammal is so large and is not often seen in nature here in the United States. Elephants can weigh up to eight thousand pounds and should not be standing on their heads. They do not know or perform most of their tricks in the wild, they must be taught, and the methods of teaching do not always follow animal rights laws of that state, town, or city. To completely avoid this on going debate of right or wrong, certain largely populated areas have completely banned circuses, rodeos, and other animal acts. Those place include Stamford, Connecticut; Hollywood; Florida; Boulder, Colorado; Pasadena, California; and, soon to be, Denver Colorado. (Vickroy, 2)

The circus coming to a city close-by may not be as innocent and cheerful as is led to believe by the animal keepers themselves. To look after the elephants when the owners or keepers are not, there are a few agencies that respond to them fairly quickly. The Animal and Plant Health Inspections Service (APHIS) is apart of the United States Department of Agriculture that provides current health and care for all animals and plants. There are many recent findings of circuses not following the proper health requirements for elephants. An animal should be treated like an animal, and not physically or mental abused, almost the same as attending to a child. “On March 17th, 2004 APHIS inspectors, for the first time in history of the agency, ordered removal of an entire heard of circus elephants from an Illinois company, Hawthorn Corporation. The John F. Cuneo, the owner of Hawthorn Corporation, openly admitted to nineteen charges against the Animal Welfare Act, law effective 1966 to ensure animals have the right to good living. One of the nineteen charges includes “failing to handle elephants in a manner that did not cause physical harm, behavioral stress, and trauma.” The company then was charged with a fine of $200,000.(Mott, 3)

The famous “Ringling Brothers Circus” was in trouble in the year 2000 for mistreatment of their Asian elephants. The Ringling Brothers, a very well-known circus in the United States, was caught and charged with several accounts of animal abuse, mental and physical. The handlers inflicted horrifying methods of training including beatings with bull hooks, constant chaining, and forcibly taking baby elephants away from their mothers. Elephants began to spark an interest in the eyes of naturalists when the child‘s movie, Dumbo , came out. A story of elephants being taken away from their mothers and locked down at all times. The Discovery channel show camera crews get targeted and almost stampeded due to the fact they were a little too close to the baby elephant. This is because the mothers and the babies get separated very quickly and these animals are naturally aggressive when it comes to their children. Most animals need mother and child bonds and the mother does not hesitate to fight back and that’s where the mother is very likely to get beaten and even left with permanent damage. It’s a never ending cycle unless we completely rid the U.S. of animals doing tricks for entertainment. (Mott, 3)

An ex-employee of the “Ringling Brothers circus”, Tom Rider, turned in video’s showing the abuse the Ringling Brothers Asian Elephants were going through. “Most of the time the hitting was done because they wouldn’t do the command fast enough. One time, my boss was mad at his wife and came in and beat the elephants.”. He also claimed to have witnessed handlers harming the elephants so badly with a bull hook that they would leave open bleeding wounds. The evidence was gathered from 1992 through 2003, until the Ringling Brothers were charged with a lawsuit and fine. Tom Rider stated “I’ve devoted my life to these elephants, and until these elephants are out of the Ringling Brothers circus, this is what I’m going to do”. A true activist and animal lover dedicating free time to the welfare of these elephants. (Mott, 2)

Pat Derby, founder of the “Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), operates three large sanctuaries for abused animal actors. This is a growing problem in the United States due to the growing demand for kids, and family movies. Animal actors are very cute, and make great profit. The rigorous training ,however, that these animals get put through is horrible. Larger animals move more slowly than smaller therefore rushing these animals should not be taking into physical abuse, just more patience. Derby‘s facility was “the first to use non dominance technique successfully”. Non dominance simple means that she does not make the animal feel dominated, no consequences if something is done wrong. This lowers the animals stress level and builds a relationship between elephant and trainer which helps the animal want to perform easy tricks. She created a meter long pole that is used to lead the animal not to beat it, and works in most cases except, circus animals because they are made to do rigorous tricks. The tricks that are taught to these animals in the circus are not natural and can cause great health damage, even death. The attempts to teach the elephants circus tricks requires hard punishment in order for the animal to learn, or at least that is some circus rule. It seems like giving an unbelievably difficult task to someone under qualified to complete it and abusing them physically until the task is done. I would not want to be beaten to get my work done and then be given treats, since when has that worked on anything and worked in the long run.(Vickroy, 3)

Since elephant habitat continues to get smaller we are running out of places to hold this beautiful creatures and help fight their extinction. African countries are still dealing with lack of precipitation, causing the land to dry up. Without the adequate amount of rainfall the vegetation runs scarce and animals become extinct. Activist, Butler states that “It could be true that some elephants travel thirty miles a day in some circumstances. In other circumstances, though, elephant populations don’t move at all and decimate that region.” (Vickroy, 3) This shows that these animals do not only need space but atmosphere or nature habitat and the closer to their natural habitat the better.

Sanctuaries and zoo’s may be our only hope for these animals. The fact that there is estimated only three hundred captive in North America owned by circuses and zoo’s. Elephants could be extinct before the next one hundred years. “One study predicts that in fifty years only seventeen elephants will be left and those will be too old to breed.” (Mott, 3) Sanctuaries generally have more available space for the animal to roam as opposed to a zoo which is limited and has other animals to cater to as well. Today’s zoo’s are trying to create identical habitats for these animals to help increase their chance of survival. Our technology is not progressing fast enough for these animals, sanctuaries could work if they receive more government funding and donations made by the general public. Education at zoo’s does not seem to have as quick as an effect as looking into our circus’s and rodeo’s and seeing the pain, and struggle these animals are going through.

Circuses provide food and water for their animal actors but the elephants do not have a proper habitat, which increases their lifespan and reduces stress on the animal. Elephants, being a roaming species, like room to walk around and objects for mental simulation, which the circuses do not supply. An elephant should have plenty of places to room to roam and concrete floors are not anything like real ground. “Imagine 10,000 pounds of pressure on their feet and joints on hard concrete. “It’s a recipe for disaster”.(Mott, 2) Many of these circumstances are the main reasons circuses are being questioned. Sanctuaries are our only hope to save these animals. Increase awareness and more government support for the sanctuaries would increase the chances of these animals from being wiped off the face of the earth. With the natural habitats for these animals depleted by drought or man we need to provide more sanctuaries now to ensure our children can see the world as we do today.

Works Cited:

1.) Donna Vickroy, “Time to Pack Up the Trunks?” Daily Southern, February 2005, www.animalsvoice.com

2.) Maryann Mott, “Elephant Abuse Charges Add Fuel to Circus Debate” National Geographic News, April 2004 www.animalsvoice.com