Profile: The demise of the circus

AUDIENCES will no longer roll up to the Greatest Show on Earth after the most famous circus in the US announced it is to close.

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey has blamed declining ticket sales and high operating costs for the decision to end performances after 146 years of business.

Campaigners against the use of animal acts have welcomed the demise of the circus, well known for its Greatest Show On Earth slogan.

Peta, the animal rights group, said the announcement was a “sign of changing times” and signalled “the end of what has been the saddest show on Earth for wild animals”.

The charity’s president Ingrid Newkirk added that decades of protests had “awoken the world to the plight of animals in captivity”.

Last May, the circus ended its use of elephant acts because of growing public opposition to their use. The animals were retired to a conservation centre in Florida after legal action over their treatment resulted in a six-figure fine for the company, although it denied any wrongdoing.

Announcing the closure, Kenneth Feld, CEO of Feld Entertainment, the circus producer, said: “After much evaluation and deliberation, my family and I have made the difficult business decision that Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey will hold its final performances in May.”

The troupe and its animals starred in the Oscar-winning 1953 Cecil B DeMille film The Greatest Show On Earth.

WHY THE PROTESTS?

FOR animal rights campaigners, the closure of one of the US’s biggest circuses is a major achievement and a sign of public reaction against shows that use animals.

Welfare groups have documented many cases of cruel treatment of circus animals with regard to both their training and their living conditions.

In 2008, a study by the Netherland’s Wageningen University found that 71 per cent of observed animals had medical problems and 33 per cent of tigers and lions did not have access to an outdoor enclosure, with lions spending 98 per cent of their time indoors.

The research also found that the average enclosure for tigers is only five metres squared and that elephants are shackled in chains for 17 hours a day.

Based on these findings, the Dutch government announced a ban in 2012 on the use of wild circus animals.

Holland was beaten to the ban by Greece which became the first European country to ban any animal from performing in any circus on its territory. That was imposed in February 2012 after a campaign by the Greek Animal Welfare Fund and Animal Defenders International.

Three years earlier, Bolivia in South America passed legislation outlawing the use of any animals, domestic or wild, in circuses on the ground that circuses “constitute an act of cruelty”.

IS THERE A BAN HERE?

THERE are now bans on using some, if not all animals, in circuses in Costa Rica, Sweden, India, Singapore, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Hungary, Slovenia, Portugal, Ecuador, Panama, El Salvador, Paraguay, Israel, Peru, Malta, Denmark and Taiwan.

Curiously, perhaps, there is no ban in the UK or the Republic of Ireland although it is hoped that Scotland may lead the way this year after 98 per cent of people in a public consultation on wild animal circuses in 2015 were in favour of a ban.

The Scottish Government said last year that it was “investigating the best mechanism for introducing legislation on ethical grounds”.

According to Peta there are still two circuses that tour England regularly with wild animals including tigers, lions, camels and zebras even though 94 per cent of the public is in favour of a ban.

Progress has been made in Ireland, where councils in areas such as Dublin have banned wild-animal circuses from performing on public land. Recently, a huge outcry forced two circuses from Europe that used elephants, giraffes, and camels to finish their tours early.

IS IT THE END FOR THE CIRCUS?

MORE than 200 local authorities in the UK and Ireland have prohibited circuses from using wild animals on public land. However, neither the UK Government nor the Irish Government has so far shown any signs they are going to introduce a country-wide ban.

Despite the slow progress, the writing does seem to be on the wall for these old-fashioned types of circuses.

One of the biggest recent success stories has been Canadian circus company Cirque Du Soleil which has been enjoyed by millions of spectators in over 200 countries on five continents.

It’s a sign of how circuses are managing to evolve. It looks as though there is still a popular appetite for the performances – as long as they don’t use animals.