An American circus that raises money for good causes is bringing back its tigers and elephants thanks to popular demand.
The Melha Shrine Circus, which supports charities including children's hospitals, lost money for the first time in its 63-year history last year, after dropping animal acts in the face of protests.
"We had people asking for refunds after finding out there were no animals," says circus chairman Allen Zippin, who has brought back elephants, tigers and dogs.
The news comes as America's longest-running circus, Ringling, prepares to pack its trunk after a fall-off in ticket sales following the retirement of its elephants last year - and proves that if circuses want to survive they have to please their friends not their enemies.
Animal rights protesters often argue that all-human shows like Cirque du Soleil don't need animal acts to thrill. But when the circuses they complain about stop using animals, those same protesters clearly don't support them by buying tickets.
Protesters make a lot of noise in the media, circus fans a lot less so. But as the Melha Shrine Circus has found, the ring of the cash register speaks louder than the shouts at the gate.
If you're truly interested in preserving and protecting animals, you're a circus fan. The "INCLUSION" of animals as ambassadors for their dwindling cousins in the wild is in their best interests. Animal rights fund raising scams want you to "EXCLUDE" all animals from your lives. No circus, no pets, no service animals, no horses, no meat. No. No. No. Love animals? So do circus fans! Go to the circus and make animals part of your lives!
ReplyDeleteCircus fan's love animals and so do the people that present them. The animals are members of their families. The animals often get more time and attention than some human members of the family. Circus fans support animal welfare, NOT animal rights. Do you know the difference? The preservation of your rights depends on it. Go see a circus every chance you get. Attending a circus is quality family time.
ReplyDeleteCircuses exploit animals and mistreat them. Most circus animals were stolen from their parents at birth. What type of life is that. Elephants don't just do tricks for fun, they are beaten and abused until they do the tricks out of fear. Same for all other circus animals. People that go to the circus don't deserve any type of respect.
ReplyDeleteIf you think the only way to get an animal to perform is to beat it I hope you never get anywhere near an animal. Please come back when you have something original to say.
DeleteBarry how do you think you get s bear, elephant or tiger to do these unnatural tricks giving them treats?? It's called a bullhook and a whip. Let's see them control these frightened animals without them! It won't happen believe me.
DeleteSuch nonsense, do you honestly think seeing a wild Tiger being abused and whipped into a performing animal is desirable? It's inhumane and cruel, leave wild animals in the wild where they belong and stop stealing them for exploit and profit from. We can go see them in the wild if we have to, where they are happy with their families and other wild animals, and are being themselves! Stop pretending humans own all wildlife. We don't.
ReplyDeleteSo right Babette
DeleteThese animals are all about the money not the love for the animals. Like the article says they brought back the tigers because they were loosing money.
DeleteBabette, Bret and 'Unknown' - No animal can be trained through abuse. All the trainers I have met in the course of my research into this matter use positive reinforcement in the same way that any dog or horse is trained. It's the only way to get an animal's happy cooperation. Training and performing is just a form of organised play, like throwing sticks for a dog. It's something the animals find stimulating and enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteNo circus animals have been taken from the wild for generations. They are bred in captivity and develop a close bond with their handlers from an early age. It's through this bond and endless time together that the trainers are able to work with them to display actions such as jumping and sitting up that are completely natural to their behaviour in the wild. The condition of the animals is evidence of their welfare and contentment.
The animal behaviourist Marthe Kiley-Wilkinson stated that it was largely through the tricks performed by dolphins in captivity that the public became convinced of their intelligence and supported their conservation in the wild. The same is true of tigers and elephants. People will only support the conservation of things they care about and they will only care about things they see. Hardly anyone will ever see these animals in the wild, so circuses provide an invaluable opportunity to see them close up.
I doubt if anyone who objects to animals in circuses has ever been to a circus, visited the animals or talked to the trainers. I encourage any critics to do so, as I did. You may come a completely different view.
Douglas, you better climb out from under your rock. Why do they need bullhooks and whips to to make the animals perform? So positive reinforcement is how you get a lion to jump through fire and get a elephant to balance on a ball. So i guess all the videos of circus abuse on u tube is all made up. Also there is proof that not all these elephant were bred in captivitty! You need to educate yourself!
ReplyDeleteThe best education is watching trainers at work - any will be happy to show you. Try Thomas Chipperfield's lion training video diary: www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0L9aFKX8H4
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