Blow to breeding & research plans ELLENTON, Florida––The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation on January 25, 2016 lost a baby elephant named Mike to elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus––a blow to Ringling ambitions both in captive elephant breeding and in disease research. Birthed on June 27, 2013, Mike was among 26 […]
Ringling may be illegally sending elephant blood to researchers, charges SAEN
Michael Budkie writes: Re Ringling to move all elephants from the circus ring into cancer research by May 2016, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus may be violating federal law by providing research material to the University of Utah from its soon-to-be retired elephants. Public records disclose that Feld Entertainment, the owner of the […]
Ringling to move all elephants from the circus ring into cancer research by May 2016
Potential profits from cancer-fighting gene discovery trump show biz ELLENTON, Florida; UDAWALAWE, Sri Lanka––Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus executive vice president and show producer Alana Feld on January 11, 2016 “told The Associated Press exclusively” that all eleven elephants now touring with the three Ringling circus units “will be permanently retired to the company’s […]
Elephant sanctuarian Carol Buckley takes up fencing
“Good fences make good neighbors.” ––Robert Frost Whatever became of Carol Buckley, the former circus elephant trainer who founded the world-renowned Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, but made a controversial exit in March 2010? “Buckley is currently in Thailand installing the country’s first solar powered chain-free corrals for captive elephants,” Elephant Aid International publicist Patricia Jones […]
Netherlands & Mexico ban wildlife use in circuses
DEN HAAG, MEXICO CITY, LONDON––Announcements distributed by Animal Defenders International less than 24 hours apart on December 12 and 13, 2014 heralded Dutch and Mexican national bans on the use of wild animals in circuses. Said Animal Defenders International president Jan Creamer, “Use of animals in traveling circuses is cruel and outdated, and that is […]
Oakland bans elephant hooks
Wednesday, December 10, 2:30 a.m. TO ELEPHANT ADVOCATES EVERYWHERE Some good news on the circus elephant front! Just got home from the Oakland City Council meeting (5:30pm – 2:30 a.m.) –an overflow crowd. The Council last night passed an ordinance banning the use of bullhooks and similar devices on circus elephants, following the lead of […]
Hope Elephants founder James Laurita, 56
James Laurita, DVM, 56, cofounder with his brother Tom of the Hope Elephants sanctuary in Hope, Maine, was found dead in the sanctuary barn on September 9, 2014. Laurita apparently fell while working alone, and was stepped on by one of the two resident former Carson & Barnes Circus elephants, Rosie and Opal. “The elephant […]
Circus lion attack calls into question the will of Peruvian authorities to enforce wildlife performance ban
CUZCO, Peru––Three years after Peru officially stopped the use of wildlife in circuses, a nominally banned lion named Smith nearly killed schoolteacher Roxana Guevara Huaraca, 32, during an August 14, 2014 performance of the Monaco Circus in Santa Rosa, in the district of San Sebastian, near Cuzco. The highly public and well-publicized appearance of […]
Colombian constitutional court upholds circus ban
BOGOTA, Colombia––The Constitutional Court of Colombia on May 14, 2014 upheld a ban on the use of wild animals, native or exotic, in circuses and traveling animal shows. The ban was approved by the Colombian Congress in June 2013. The Constitutional Court ratified an earlier verdict by magistrate Jorge Iván Palacio. Colombia joined Boliva, Ecuador, […]
Humane Society of the U.S. & codefendants pay Ringling Bros. circus $15.75 million
WASHINGTON D.C.––The Humane Society of the U.S. and codefendants “have paid Feld Entertainment, Inc., the parent company of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, $15.75 million to settle cases stemming from a lawsuit they brought against Ringling over the care of its Asian elephants,” Feld Entertainment announced on May 15, 2014. Confirmed […]