What do you all think about circuses?

elephant400

elephant400

Well-Known Member
I know this is for zoos, but i was just thinking what zoo chatters thought in the use of animals in circuses e.g elephants, Bears domestics?????? :)
 
I think that the world has moved on from traditional circuses and hunting practises.

What was once commonplace now just brings protest.

We recently had a circus visiting with zebras llamas and camels on our local green, so many people complained about the small grazing area they had a few feet from the road that they had to be moved into a nearby field.

I am not sure people want to see or expect animals anymore anyway, everyone I spoke to were under the impression animals in circuses had been banned!
 
Hate them. In France you drive past circus grounds where elephants stand chained, unable to communicate. I've seen training footage too, and it's horrible to see eles, my favourite animals, treated this way. The same goes for big cats, monkeys, etc.
 
In many western countries animal circuses have been practically phased out of existence. Whenever a circus tours with animals such as bears and elephants (which are banned in many parts of Canada and the U.S.) then there are protests and demonstrations that urge people to boycott the show. Even though some might argue that exotic circus animals are occasionally more active and physically fitter than their counterparts in zoos, the fact that living conditions are restricted to tiny areas is abominable. My personal take is that circuses that are actually still around with exotic animals are a total disgrace to wildlife.
 
When i was in France (If i remember correctly, it could have been Spain) I saw a circus with ostriches and some other smaller cages i thought they looked pretty well looked after and wasn't too bothered by it but later in the week i picked up a leaflet for another local circus which claimed to be home to white Bengal tigers which distressed me a lot, as the first thought that comes to your head is how badly they are accommodated and how much enrichment they actually receive. In general i think it should be banned worldwide, there are plenty of things that humans can do for a circus act without bringing in animals.
 
that is footage is horrible. i also hate the use of animals circuses - animals kept in tiny cages and forced to perform using terrible training methods. i can't believe that circuses are still allowed to use animals.
 
I was suprised to see that Barnum and Bailey are one of the most prolific breeders of elephants in the world (where records are kept, I'm sure the breeding of working animals in their homeland is greater). They seem to have a breeding centre and retirement home for elephants. Having seen their show last year I was shocked that my childhood memories didn't include just how lame the animal performances where and how undignified the animals looked, there was no majesticness to their performance and it just looked tired and worn. The tiger act was the poorest as each animal looked half asleep (medicated?) and certainly no where near the condition of animals at the Bronx zoo. I wont be visiting another one anytime soon.
 
This one shows some guy in Berlin beating a baby elephant. My heart just breaks when I see this stuff.

 
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that video looks like i's in a zoo????, anyway i've been curious about circuses all my life and had my up's and downs about animal circuses, but for the british people slagging circuses off, Blackpool Zoo dose pretty much the same thing in a circus with their elephants, and as their excuse is that is for vetinary practice and it's been proven by biologists that the only trick helpfull for Vet's is the foot up, so be carefull what u say about training elephants.
 
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Blackpool actually has it's elephants in PC now, which sucks as they're confined to that tiny paddock even more so.
Don't have a problem with circus, providing the animals are cared for. I've seen plenty of animal training in the flesh and none of it was cruel. I think there are upsides and down to both zoos and circuses:
Zoos obviously have more room, they (sometimes) keep animals in more appropriate social groups, sometimes have more breeding success and it can be argued that they live a more natural, ergo better life. However they're in the same enclosure their entire life and (IMO) never seem to have as much character as trained animals.
Circus animals get enrichment through training, they get a new enclosure every week, they quite often live longer, and one could argue that they're probably in better physical condition due to higher activity levels. Then there's some downsides, as in animals could be mistreated whilst being trained, they'll normally have smaller enclosures, and they're sometimes in bad social groupings with a lack of breeding.
Personally I don't mind it, hell the only tigers I've seen that don't pace up the fence all day long were in a circus (well, pretty much). And with elephants, how many in zoos get access to a river and trees like the ones in circus Krone in Germany? Each to their own, I just don't mind it is all.
EDIT: That Greek video is sick, gives all elephant trainers and circuses a bad name.
 
I can't see how circus animals get a new enclosure. Can't see chaining to the spot or a crate of straw as new.

I think the brutal training sums it up for me.
 
I meant new as in it's in a new place i.e. new plants, smells, sights etc.
And you can't assume they're all chained/crated all the time or that all the training is brutal. I appreciate that you don't like the idea of animals performing but don't tar them all with the same brush, makes you sound like you work for CAPs ;)
 
I'm personally against animal circuses; I don't care for a lot of training methods trainers use and prefer to see wild animals acting like wild animals. There's a great animal-free circus out there, and humane animal shows like SuperDogs, etc.
 
Maybe I am like CAPS there, because zoos and circuses are very different things which gain different views.
 
I think they're very similar, as someone mentioned in an old thread, read a circus bashing report, replace the word "circus" with "zoo" and it all sounds similar.
Meaghan, what's "Superdogs"? Just curious lol.
 
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