Retiring a Ringling Bros Classic: Elephant Walk

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As children, we were mostly treated to the circus. The thrill of big top wonders, trained tigers that snarled and roared at the crack of a whip, death defying trapeze artists, amazing aerobatics, and the perfect pachyderms who performed with grace.

I remember going to Ringling Bros. Circus many times during my childhood. It was only because I loved elephants and my dad used to work security at the Spectrum, a large stadium where Ringling Bros used to perform. My father and his boss were great friends; so much so that he received Ringling Bros. show tickets, videos, books, and plushies which eventually wound up in my possession. It was from there that I learned about the majesty of elephants in their performances.

Growing up, I drifted from the circus and learned just how human elephants were from how one committed suicide at the loss of a friend or how they mourned their dead and how they performed human tasks like throwing out garbage and examining themselves in mirrors. I found it fascinating that such these giant creatures could be so human. It was uncanny and only made me love them even more.

Image from nytimes.com

However, it wasn’t until the Ringling Bros.’ elephant lawsuit that a controversy began that Ringling Bros. abused their elephants. Rumors were tossed about that the popular circus group used various tools like bullhooks and ankuses on their elephants. It was also rumored that the elephants were also kept in shackles, were forced to perform when sick, and that mothers were separated from their calves. 

To know that something from my childhood had such a dark controversy towards something I loved broke my heart. These were human like creatures subjected to such terrible abuse just to appease the masses. Animals weren’t born to entertain; they were born to be free like any of us in the great circle of life. Befriending them is enchanting and wondrous, abusing them is horrible and wrong.

But thankfully a ray of hope has been produced. By 2018, Ringling Bros. is going to retire all thirteen of its traveling elephants to its elephant conservation in Florida. The head of Feld Entertainment announced this on March 5^th, 2015 and explained that this decision was made based on the goulash of laws debating if elephants should be used in entertainment or not. He also claimed that people weren’t comfortable with the traveling elephants based on the elephant abuse controversy. From 2018 on, the circus will only use tigers, camels, horses, dogs, and people as means of entertainment. But who knows if those animals endure any abuse alongside the elephants; I honestly hope they don’t.

While I’m happy to hear that they’re retiring their elephants, it makes me wonder why animal-based circuses don’t eliminate their animal acts and produce their own version of Cirque du Soleil? Cirque du Soleil is a circus of human performers who are acrobats, clowns, jugglers, contortionists, singers, and so much more. They don’t rely on animals to entertain, rather they use their own bodies as works of art to bring joy and shock to the audience. So far, they have been extremely successful.  They don’t have to worry about training animals or any animal abuse controversies.

What I also don’t understand is why they’re waiting so long to retire the elephants. Yes, it’s only three years, but time makes all the difference especially when it comes to animals. The type of elephant that Ringling Bros. uses is the Asian elephant, noted for its small ears; they are currently an endangered species. Three more years for these thirteen elephants could make or break them. If they are serious about this decision then the thirteen elephants should be retired immediately.

However, the only logical explanation I can think of that prevents a sooner retirement is that the show dates have already been set for the 2015 season. Their first show will be tomorrow night in Richmond, Virginia. Their final show is on February 28^th, 2016 in Duluth, Georgia. No sooner that final show ends the season will start up again and it will probably run to 2017. Based on this logic, they may just run the thirteen elephants to the very end of the 2017 season.

Thank you for reading today’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel free to comment, share, and offer any feedback.

So tell me, what do you think of this whole situation?