Circus elephant

Definition of Circus elephant

From the elephant glossary Section: management

Relevant Literature about Circus elephant

A Circus elephant is an elephant that lived most of its time on a travelling Circus, taking part in shows and performing for a paying audience. Elephants on Circus became controversial in the 1990s and only 20 years later elephants on Circus became more unusual.

In 2016 only some 65 elephants still lived on Circus in USA.[1]

In 2017, Kenneth Feld, owner of Feld Entertainment and Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus (RBBB), the worlds largest Circus, located In USA, decided to retire their elephants, and within shortly the entire RBBB Circus closed down after 145 years performing with elephants. The older elephants will remain on Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation, while the 16 younger were relocated 200 miles from Central Florida to White Oak Conservation in Yulee, outside Jacksonville.[2]

In 1990, 42 Circuses in Germany kept elephants, compared to 39 Zoos, and in 2021, according to the European Elephant Group (EEG), based in Germany, there are only 100 circus elephants left in Europe.

The two largest European Circuses, Circus Krone in Germany and Circus Knie in Switzerland, have both retired their elephants and several elephants from smaller European circuses were retired during the last years, to Platschow Elefantenhof (Platschow Elephant Park), in Vorpommern in Germany.[3]

Meanwhile in India, a similair change has been seen, and in 2021 the Great Golden Circus, the only circus in India to use elephants, was de-recognised by the authorities concerned.[4]

Internal relevant links on website www.elephant.se

Circus elephant mentioned in The Elephant Database

No country match the word Circus elephant in the database.

24 locations holdings in the elephant database match the word Circus elephant.

Akhshtyr Live Vision Safari Park, zoo in
Barnum & Bailey Circus, circus in Bridgeport
Belfast Zoo, zoo in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Bullen's Circus, circus in
Campbell Brothers Circus, circus in Fairbury, Jefferson County
Circus Carl Hagenbeck-Stellingen, circus in Hamburg
Circus Finlandia, circus in Mustio
Circus Sanger, circus in Margate
Clyde Beatty-Russell Brothers Circus, circus in
Clyde Beatty-Wallace Brothers Circus, circus in
Cole Bros. Circus (Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus), circus in Deland, Florida
Cole Brothers Circus, circus in Peru, Indiana
Gautiers Menagerie, circus in Faucon, Avignon
Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, circus in Peru, Indiana
James Brothers Circus (Sid Kellner), circus in
Joseph Moore Museum, museum in Richmond
Kelly Miller Circus, circus in Hugo
Palace Roc Agel (Grimaldi), private in La Turbie
Ringlands Circus (Big Tom Fosset), circus in Arden
Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus - Retirement Farm, circus in Williston
Roland Persson, museum in Stockholm
Tennessee Elephant Sanctuary (TES), sanctuary in Hohenwald
William P. Hall Animal Farm, dealer in Lancaster
Wirth Circus, circus in Sydney

27 elephants in the elephant database match the word Circus elephant

EM-F Aida born 1994 arrived at Royal London Circus in Malaysia, from Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Education Centre, in Malaysia.
EM-M Aidi born 1992? arrived at Royal London Circus in Malaysia, from Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Education Centre, in Malaysia.
EM-F Andra born 1959? arrived at Circus Rolando Orfei (Hanmar Circus, Coda Prin) in Italy
EM-F Belle born 1952 arrived 1961-10-27 at Portland Zoo (Metro Washington Park Zoo) in United States, from Seattle Zoo (Woodland Park Zoo), in United States.
EM-F Betty born arrived 1935-00-00 at Sole Brothers Circus in Australia, from Perth Zoo, in Australia.
EM-F Big Jenny (Jennie) born arrived 1955-00-00 at Pink Elephants (Paul Kelly) in United States, from King Brothers Circus, in United States.
EM-M Black Diamond born 1897 arrived 1928-00-00 at Al G. Barnes Circus in United States, from Wilson's Greater Shows, in United States.
EM-F Candy born 1995-03-02 arrived 2007-12-01 at Yerevan Zoo in Armenia, from Circus Durov (Animal Theater V.L. Durov Nook), in Russia.
EM-M Cardigan (Cardie) born arrived 1902-00-00 at Wirth Circus in Australia
EM-M Chief born 1864 arrived at Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden in United States, from John Robinson Circus, in United States.
-F Dolly born arrived 1934-12-15 at Perth Zoo in Australia
LA-F Donna born 1984 arrived 2003-11-24 at Disneys Animal Kingdom in United States, from Albuquerque Biological Park, in United States.
EM-F Dunja born 1973 arrived 2009-04-04 at Belfast Zoo in United Kingdom, from Hannover Zoo, in Germany.
EM-F Frida born arrived 1998-00-00 at Quilpue Zoo (El Parque Zoológico de Quilpué) in Chile, from Circus Aguilas (Circo Aguilas), in Chile.
EM-F Gelly born 1994 arrived at Royal London Circus in Malaysia
EM-F Gyp (Gypsy, Empress?) born arrived 1907-00-00 at Great J. E. Henry Show in United States, from Cook and Barrett (Cook Bros), in United States.
EM-F Jenny born 1961 arrived 2009-04-04 at Belfast Zoo in United Kingdom, from Hannover Zoo, in Germany.
EM-F Lizzie born 1888 arrived at John Robinson Circus in United States
EM-F Louie (Lovie, Lovey) born 1966 arrived 1977-00-00 at Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation in United States, from Circus World (Polk City), in United States.
EM-F Minyak born 1932-01-29 arrived 1964-00-00 at Carson and Barnes Circus in United States, from Hoxie Brothers Circus, in United States.
MA- Moorland Mastodon born arrived at Moorland swamp in United States, from North America unspecified forest, in United States.
EM-F Na born arrived at Vietnam Circus Federation in Vietnam
EM-F Savitri born arrived at Olympic Circus in India
EM-F Sheeba born arrived at Manila Zoo (Manila Zoological and Botanical Gardens) in Philippines, from Asia unspecified location, in Asia unspecified country.
LA-F Thandi born 1981 arrived 2001-07-30 at Pretoria Zoo in South Africa, from Brian Boswells Circus, in South Africa.
EM-F Tina born 1965 arrived 1966-06-14 at Belfast Zoo in United Kingdom, from Tyseley Pet Stores, in United Kingdom.
EM-F Yhetoo (Yheet thoo) born 1977 arrived 2009-01-23 at Belfast Zoo in United Kingdom, from Krefeld Zoo, in Germany.

Reference list Koehl, Dan, (2023). Circus elephant. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 20 September 2021 at https://www.elephant.se/index.php?id=51. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:

*[1] https://www.vox.com/2016/5/30/11760880/circus-elephants ** *[2]https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/05/13/circus-elephant-ringling-sanctuary/ ** *[3] https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/jun/08/the-elephant-vanishes-dumba-how-a-circus-family-went-on-the-run ** *[4] https://thefederal.com/states/west/gujarat/last-indian-circus-using-elephants-for-shows-loses-recognition/

Selected publications

Friend, T. H. and Bushong, D. 1996. Abstract. Stereotypic behavior in circus elephants and the effect of "anticipation" of feeding, watering and performing. Proceedings of the 30th International Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology 14-17 August 1996, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Friend, T. H. 1999. Behavior of picketed circus elephants. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 62:73- 88.
Friend, T. H. and M. L. Parker. 1999. The effect of penning versus picketing on stereotypic behavior of circus elephants. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 64:213-225.
Gruber, T. M., T. H. Friend, J. M. Gardner, J. M. Packard, B. Beaver, and D. Bushong. 2000. Variation in stereotypic behavior related to restraint in circus elephants. Zoo Biology 19:209-221.
Toscano, M. J., T. H. Friend and C. H. Nevill. 2001 Environmental conditions and body temperature of circus elephants transported during relatively high and low temperature conditions. J. Elephant Managers Association 12:115-149.
Nevill, C. H. and T. H. Friend. 2003. The behavior of circus tigers during transport. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 82:329-337.
Williams, J. L. and T. H. Friend. 2003. Behavior of circus elephants during transport. J. Elephant Managers Association 14:8-11.

Links about Circus elephant

Selected external links for this article about Circus elephant:

http://www.zoocheck.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Captive-Elephants-in-Circuses-India-2008.pdf

External relevant search

Search more on the web for elephant+%22Circus+elephant%22 (Opens in new window and the word elephant+%22Circus+elephant%22 is already submitted into the link, just click on the link for relevant results)

Categories glossary | management

About this documentThis document was created: 0000-00-00. Latest update: 2021-11-21 01:10:04 included 1600 characters with valid HTML5