Fans of the Ringling Brothers’ gravity-defying circus acts sometimes don’t know whether to laugh or recoil from the performers’ daredevil feats. This strong mix of emotions can sometimes be just as true for the elephants on stage.
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus enlists the service of more than 60 Asian elephants in its popular shows at venues across the United States. Ten of the animals will be performing in San Diego from Aug. 8 to 12 at the San Diego Sports Arena. The circus also runs one of the most successful elephant-breeding programs in North America, with 20 baby elephants born in the past 12 years.
According to circus estimates, close to 80 percent of circus fans cite the elephant acts among their favorite performances. However, the elephant performances integral to the “Greatest Show on Earth” have also generated negative responses from several animal welfare advocacy groups, including PETA, PAWS and the La Jolla-based Elephant Alliance, which have for years accused Ringling of maltreating its animals and violating the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal Welfare Act.
Circus officials reject the criticism, however, saying the welfare of the animals is paramount.
“Elephants historically and traditionally do generate a huge emotional reaction” from humans, said Janice Aria, who has worked with Ringling Bros. since 1972 and is director of animal research and development for the circus. “We [elephant trainers] are very emotional with our animals too, but the difference is we’re with them 24/7 … and everything we do is from the elephants’ perspective.”
This commitment requires trainers to bathe performance elephants twice a day, Aria explained, monitoring every inch of their elephants and assessing water and food intake patterns ” even elephant droppings ” for abnormalities. Aria said any of these indicators can provide trainers with signs of health problems or discontent on the part of the animals.
“It all has to pass inspection by the USDA,” Aria said. “Everything from our husbandry to where the feedbags are placed to the demeanor of the handlers with the animals to the tools that are used.”
USDA regulations govern when and how long elephants are kept tethered to feed and sleep without being pestered by other elephants and dictate how long the animals should be untethered to exercise.
USDA inspectors subject the Ringling Bros.’ 200-acre Center for Elephant Conservation in central Florida to annual inspections and also make unannounced visits to various circus venues around the country, according to Jessica Milteer, a USDA spokeswoman. Inspectors may issue citations to the circus for inadequate facilities, food storage and animal handling not compliant with Animal Welfare Act regulations.
Citations differ from more serious violations, which “usually happen after a facility is unable to make the necessary changes” to the programs under scrutiny, Milteer said. According to records, the USDA has never found Ringling Bros. in violation of the federal Animal Welfare Act, the top governmental regulations overseeing animal treatment and wellbeing.
Animal advocates, however, remain unconvinced of Ringling Bros.’ commitment.
Florence Lambert, founder and director of the Elephant Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy group, believes the USDA is “too lenient” with Ringling Bros., which has received citations in the past five years for improper food storage, failure to test certain elephants in the traveling units for tuberculosis at the required six-month intervals and failing to immediately treat an elephant with foot problems, according to select inspection reports released by the USDA. During subsequent inspections, however, the USDA has found Ringling Bros. has corrected the circumstances that prompted the citations.
“If the USDA had not gone down there, those animals would be left just like they always are, which is uncared for,” Lambert said.
Lambert, a La Jolla resident, founded the Elephant Alliance in 1991 as an independent nonprofit, but the organization formerly operated under the Fund for Animals. With more than 600 members in the U.S. and Canada, the alliance tries to generate awareness about the treatment of Asian elephants in circuses and zoos by distributing DVDs and pamphlets and holding peaceful demonstrations, according to Lambert.
“If people knew what goes on behind the scenes at circuses with elephants and the other animals, they truly would not support the circus,” she said.
Circusgoers in San Diego will have the opportunity to see several elephants “behind the scenes” at an animal open house, an elephant-viewing venue opened to the public at certain circus destinations, based on available space.
During the animal open house, elephants take turns exercising and relaxing in a large dirt arena roughly three-quarters the size of a football field.
But during the time the elephants are not ambling about to the fascination of crowds, they stand in chains, circus officials said. Ringling Bros. tethers its elephants when they sleep and eat, according to Aria, so they do not harass each other or defecate in their food.
The chains “are like a bracelet,” Aria said, and they allow slack for the elephants to rotate and lie down.
“The elephants are so used to it, it’s never an issue,” Aria said. “It’s really more of a privacy issue for the elephants than a hardship.”
Aria said California state regulations, with which the Ringling Bros. will comply while in San Diego, require the circus to tether the animals with cotton firehose instead of chains.
Ringling Bros. prefers to tether its elephants with chains “because a chain doesn’t get wet and it allows air,” she said. However, Aria speculates certain states require the use of cotton hose because it “seemingly looks more comfortable.”
Many elephant welfare activists are critical of the practice of tethering altogether.
“If you had a dog and you chained that dog for 20 hours a day, the Humane Society would be after you because that’s cruelty to animals,” Lambert said. “And if an elephant weighs four tons “” bigger than an automobile “” it’s worse. When you’re that big, you’ve got to keep circulation going to keep from getting arthritis and to keep from getting foot problems, which many of these elephants have.”
Lambert also denounced a commonly used elephant-training tool: the bull hook. Also known as the ankus or a “guide,” the implement is a 2-foot-long, hooked pole approved by the USDA. Ringling Bros. trainers use bull hooks to lead the elephants through performance exercises and day-to-day maintenance such as baths, Aria said.
According to Lambert, trainers “jab [the elephants] behind the ears, which is a very tender place. You’ll also see lumps on the elephant’s neck that are mostly hook boils from where the elephant has been hit.”
In response, Aria firmly denied that trainers use the bull hook to hit elephants. However, she said, trainers are authorized to “tap and touch” the elephants to cue certain responses. “It is strictly a reinforcement tool, not a weapon,” she said.
“The optimum thing is to use a vocal command in a conversational tone” to direct the elephants, Aria explained. However, “If you get music and crowds of people, you have to have a back-up, and that’s what the guide is for.”
“We are stewards of these animals, responsible if anything happens … If there’s not a trust and a bond [between elephant and trainer] it’s just a matter of time before they don’t [perform],” Aria said. “We have ample resources, so we don’t want to have an animal on the unit that doesn’t want to be there.”
Like many animal welfare proponents, Lambert believes that “elephants absolutely do not belong in the circus,” especially if their presence necessitates the use of tethers and bull hooks, which frame the debate surrounding elephant domestication and captivity.
Aria, on the other hand, sees in many of the elephants bred at the Ringling Bros. conservation center a natural penchant for performance.
“You watch the animals for hours, and you find a behavior that they do repeatedly,” she said. “And then you hone that behavior through repetition and rewards until it becomes a behavior that’s on cue, and then you add the lights and music. Then it’s a performance. But to the elephants, it’s what they do naturally. And to me, that’s magic.”
San Diegans can witness those “magical” elephant performances and more at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus on Wednesday, Aug. 8 and Thursday, Aug. 9 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 11 at 11 a.m., 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 12 at 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. at the San Diego Sports Arena.
Ticket prices range from $13 to $81.50, and can be purchased through the San Diego Sports Arena box office or Ticketmaster by calling (619) 220-TIXS or visiting www.ticketmaster.com.
For more information about the “Greatest Show on Earth,” visit www.ringlingbros.com.