England’s Prime Minister Says He Will Ban Wild Animals from Circuses

BY JOAN REDDY APRIL 10, 2014 

England’s Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that he will work quickly to bring forward the Government’s draft bill that will ban wild animals from circuses. The bill was originally published last March, but little progress has been made since then.

 

The British animal rights organization, Animal Defender’s International (ADI),  is concerned that if the ban is not immediately enforced, the implementation date of December 2015 may be missed. Social justice campaigner Peter Tatchell, and former Conservative MEP, author, and conservationist Stanley Johnson approached Prime Minister Cameron with this concern, and asked him to swiftly move on the bill. He responded to their request by saying “[y]es, we are going to do it.”

“It is great that David Cameron told Stanley and me today that he will ban wild animals in circuses. Let’s hold him to it. Circuses deny animals their freedom and suppress their natural, wild nature through confinement, tethering and subjugation. It is wrong for circuses to subject wild animals to such physical and mental suffering. That’s why I am supporting Animal Defenders International’s campaign calling on the Government to urgently legislate a ban on the use of wild animals in circuses,” said Thatchell.

“I am very much hoping that this legislation to ban wild animals in circuses will appear in the Queen’s speech and no further delay will be experienced. Circuses that persist in using wild animals undermine conservation efforts by demeaning animals and presenting them as playthings. These animals belong in their natural wild habitat, not the circus,” said Johnson. “I applaud Animal Defenders International on its work to stop circus suffering and urge the Government to join the growing number of countries that have banned wild animal acts,” he added.

The elephant-shaped letter requesting Prime Minister Cameron to quickly move the bill forward, has been signed by celebrities that include Eddie Izzard, Julian Clary,Moby, Michaela Strachan, and Brian Blessed. Also, among the signatories, isEton, whom is a famous alumni of Prime Minister Cameron’s old school, as well as actor Dominic West and sustainable investment leader Ben Goldsmith.

“We are delighted that David Cameron has promised the ADI deputation that he will bring forward the ban on wild animals. So many celebrities and politicians have joined ADI to call on the Government to implement its promised ban on wild animals in circuses. After a 20 year wait the public wants to see this done and if the Government fails to deliver on this promise, it will be directly responsible for continued animal suffering,” said ADI Chief Executive, Jan Creamer.

At the moment, more than two hundred local authorities in the UK, and twenty-five countries worldwide have restricted using animals in circuses. A 2010 Defra consultation showed that 94 percent of Britain’s population opposed the use of animals in circuses, and in 2011 sixty-three MPs also agreed that the Government should ban wild animal circus acts.

Hopefully, Britain will soon be the twenty-seventh country to rescue wild circus animals from a life of captivity, abuse and exploitation.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

News Link:-http://www.ecorazzi.com/2014/04/10/englands-prime-minister-says-he-will-ban-wild-animals-from-circuses/

Related articles

• Victory! Colombia Passes Wild Animal Circus Ban
• Hippopotamus Death in Circus Leads to Protest
• Wild Animal Circus Ban Under Threat!
• Petition: RSPCA – Circuses are no fun for animals, Hold the Government to its promise!
• Britain’s biggest wild animal circus sells its animals
• Video – Circus controversy: Should elephants be allowed? Vote
• Government’s so-called public consultation on wild animals in circuses
• City Council Vote Means Circus Animals Still Welcome In Worcester
• Owners of Anne the circus elephant go on trial for animal cruelty
• Spaniard fighting for his life after Baby the elephant crushed him in Cork circus

PLYMOUTH TOWN MEETING: Petitioned article aims to ban wild animal circuses

Frank Mand Old Colony Memorial Posted Mar. 26, 2014 @ 4:00 pm 

Put yourself in their shoes or, rather, in their cages, Kati Carloni says.

Wild and exotic animals that are part of travelling circuses often spend 10 or 11 months a year living in trailers or boxcars, their movement limited further by chains, brought out once or twice a day for exercise or to perform tricks.

It’s easy to imagine what it would be like, Carloni says. Simply think of a prisoner doing life without parole.

Not surprisingly Carloni’s name is the one attached to an article placed – by petition – on the warrant of the April 5 spring Town Meeting – an article that, if passed, would ban traveling circuses that display wild or exotic animals from putting up their tents within the town’s boundaries.

She admits that this is a personal issue, that she has always been opposed to circuses displaying these creatures. But Carloni is adamant that this is an issue that deserves the support of the community, an issue whose time has come.

“In this country we have many laws that protect domesticated animals against abuse or neglect,” Carloni says, “but these beautiful wild animals are not protected.”

A big part of the problem, she explains, is the mobile nature of these circuses. Reports of abuse or neglect are forgotten or unenforceable because before authorities can act, the circus moves on to another town or state.

This is not just Carloni’s opinion. Her article has the support of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) and the South Shore Humane Society. And she refers those who are skeptical about the treatment of these animals to Animal Defenders International (ADI).

ADI’s website points out that similar regulations have been passed in dozens of communities around the country, and the world. Austria, Denmark, Sweden, and Portugal and more than 20 other countries have instituted similar bans nationwide.

Two years ago, with ADI providing support and extensive documentation of the abuse of these animals, the “Travelling Exotic Animal Protection Act” (TEAP) was introduced in Congress, and similar legislation has been brought forward in the Houses of Parliament in the United Kingdom. “Which has yet to be enforced; if at all!”

Matt Rossell, campaigns manager for Animal Defenders International (ADI), which describes itself as an “animal rescue organization with a commitment to securing progressive animal protection legislation around the globe,” says that exotic animals are literally going crazy in the circus.

“It’s simply hard to argue in the 21st century, given all that we know about these animals’ complex needs, their intelligence,” Rossell says, “hard to argue that it’s acceptable to keep them in tiny cages, parking lots and trucks and trailers and train cars for most of their lives.”

Read the Next 2 pages of this very truthful & Interesting News Link:–http://plymouth.wickedlocal.com/article/20140326/NEWS/140327528/?tag=1

 

Video Gallery: Cruelty Uncovered At Korean ‘Monkey School’

“This is just disgusting & so very cruel! Using animals for entertainment should be banned all over the world; seeing this just breaks my heart. Please watch the videos below; then sign the petition!”

Updated: 14 February 2014

An investigation by ADI into a Korean “attraction” that forces monkeys to perform in degrading shows has revealed shocking conditions behind the scenes.
At the Monkey School, which is located in Gamgyori in South Korea, ADI found:

• Monkeys kept in squalid and barren conditions, including mothers and their young babies
• Traumatized animals exhibiting abnormal behaviour, such as constantly spinning around and biting themselves
• Some monkeys isolated in tiny cages, others crammed together
• Animals hit during training and dragged along the floor
• Disgraceful contempt for a monkey as it tries to escape with its hands tied behind its back, falling onto its face, as workers laugh at its predicament and terror

These disturbing findings highlight a life of extreme neglect and cruelty for these intelligent and sensitive animals – an all too common occurrence for performing animals which ADI has revealed time and again, suffer terribly behind the scenes.

On seeing the footage, Sharon Shaw, Director of Lakeview Monkey Sanctuary in the UK said: “All aspects of life for primates at Monkey School are appalling, from the inadequate and atrocious housing conditions, the physical and psychological torture, to the lack of empathy and respect shown by the staff. The poor animals who are unlucky enough to live there endure a barbaric, unnatural life.”

During the public shows, monkeys are made to wear clothes, ride around on a motorbike, do handstands, jump through hoops and respond to commands as directed.

It is shameful that these intelligent, social and emotional primates are terrorized and forced to undertake such degrading tricks – especially in light of modern understanding of primates and their use of tools, language and self-awareness – abilities which, at one time, were considered to be unique to humans. This also sends the worst possible message to children about respect for the other intelligent species that share our planet and how we should treat, and protect, animals.

The terrible suffering of the animals at Monkey School – and establishments like them – must stop.

ADI is working with our campaign partner Korea Animal Rights Advocates (KARA) to encourage the Government and people of Korea to reject the cruel and unnecessary use of animals in entertainment.

We are supporting new legislation, the ‘Zoo Act’, proposed by Congresswoman Chang which, if passed, would ban animal performances and set minimum welfare standards and inspections for places that exhibit captive animals.

Highlighting the need for the legislation, Congresswoman Hanna Chang: “As seen in the ADI footage, it is hard to imagine the pain that monkeys have to go through for humans every day. This clearly shows that it is now time to have regulations to monitor the welfare of animals in captivity in Korea.”

Congresswoman Chang’s proposal has strong support from animal protection organizations. ADI and KARA have joined over 80 national and international groups in sending a joint letter to the Government stating support for the draft law.

It is time to end the exploitation of, and brutality towards, animals used for entertainment.

Help us campaign to end animal shows in Korea, and around the world.

Take action! 

• Sign our petition calling on the Environmental Committee of the Korean Government to support the Zoo Act
• Make a donation to help fund our investigations and campaigns to help animals in entertainment around the world (make a £ donation here)

How do you get a monkey to walk like us?
What you don’t see when you visit an animal show. This little monkey is abused and derided during a training session to teach him to walk like a human.

How do you get a monkey to walk like us?

An investigation by ADI into the Korean Monkey School – which forces monkeys to perform in degrading shows – revealed shocking conditions behind the scenes and cruelty to the animals during training. This video shows the suffering you don’t see when you visit an animal show. 

Find out more and how you can get involved athttp://bit.ly/1c5IMbi.

Animals in entertainment. It’s no fun for the animals. 

Animal Defenders International
http://www.ad-international.org

That’s entertainment
The hidden cruelty that performing animals are subjected to. To provide a show for the public, these monkeys are subjected to a life of extreme neglect and cruelty.

Animal Suffering at Korean Monkey School

Animals in entertainment. It’s no fun for the animals. 
Animal Defenders International
http://www.ad-international.org

Harmless fun? You decide.
It may look like fun to the audience, but monkeys are exposed to shocking conditions behind the scenes and terrible abuse during training.

Harmless fun? You decide.

Find out more and how you can get involved athttp://bit.ly/1c5IMbi.

Animals in entertainment. It’s no fun for the animals. 

Animal Defenders International
http://www.ad-international.org

News Link:–http://www.ad-international.org/animals_in_entertainment/go.php?id=3517&ssi=10

Victory! Colombia Passes Wild Animal Circus Ban

The Colombian Congress today passed Bill 244,2012 to end the use of wild animals in both static and traveling circuses, after a six-year public campaign following the release of critical evidence of animal suffering collected by investigators from Animal Defenders International (ADI).

ADI led the campaign as part of its global Stop Circus Suffering initiative and the organization expressed its delight that the years of undercover investigations, scientific reviews, public debates and awareness-raising days had resulted in the ban being secured.

Jan Creamer, Chief Executive of ADI said: “We congratulate the Colombian Congress for approving this Bill and are delighted that Colombia has shown that animals should not suffer for our entertainment. ADI stands ready to assist with rescue and relocation of the animals, whenever the Government of Colombia requires assistance. After this momentous decision, it is important that these animals are allowed to live out their days, free from the circus and the suffering they have endured.”

House Representative Augusto Posada, author of the Bill, said: “This is good news for the country because with the prohibition of the use of animals in circuses we are taking a significant step in the conservation of wildlife, the awareness to preserve nature and thus demonstrate that as humans we can respect the status and dignity of other species. Those who still have animal shows will have two years to evolve and allow the return of these creatures to a suitable habitat and to create new forms of entertainment without the presence of animals.”

Eduardo Peña, ADI campaigns coordinator for Latin America: “Our warmest thanks and congratulations go to more than 50 national animal protection organizations who helped with this bill, and of course the individuals, celebrities, academics, officials, congressmen, artists and non-animal circuses who joined with us to stop animal suffering in circuses in Colombia. Now circuses have the opportunity to strengthen human talent, support the Colombian Government’s ethical position and evolve shows that respect human values and protect nature.”

ADI investigators worked undercover in South American circuses for two years filming, photographing and takes notes on the deprived environments, small cages, psychological suffering and the violent and brutal treatment of animals when being handled and trained.

The evidence shocked the continent and governments in South America have been swift to take action to show that such treatment of animals is unacceptable in civilized society.

The ADI campaign was launched in Colombia in 2007 with a screening of its first investigation, the images from which were some of the most sickening ADI investigators have ever seen. Since the launch of the investigations, bans have been introduced in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Paraguay.

Bill 244, 2012 sought to prohibit all animals in circuses, however domestic species were excluded in the Senate. Circuses will have two years to comply with the new legislation.

News Link:–http://www.buzzfeed.com/davidthompson515/victory-colombia-passes-wild-animal-circus-ban-aic2

‘Lion Ark’ Documentary Showcases Animals’ Rescue From Illegal Bolivian Circuses (VIDEO)

From Mother Nature Network’s Laura Moss:

An undercover investigation by Animal Defenders International or ADI led to a 2009 ban on circus animals in Bolivia. The circuses were given a year to comply with the law, but many kept their animals, including a number of lions, caged in deplorable conditions.

Bam Bam is the leader of the first pride that was released into their into their 20-acre outdoor habitat of the 25 circus lions airlifted from Bolivia to the Wild Animal Sanctuary. (Photo By Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

In 2010, with the aid of Bolivian wildlife officials, ADI stepped in.

“Lion Ark” follows ADI’s team as they track down eight illegal circuses, face off against angry circus owners and race against time to transport 25 lions to a Colorado animal sanctuary.

The movie opens in the middle of a confrontation between rescuers and a knife-wielding circus owner, and through a series of interviews and flashbacks, viewers learn how ADI located the illegal circus in a remote Bolivian town.

Over the course of the film, rescuers track down filthy, starving lions — some living eight to a cage — and transport them 5,000 miles to freedom.

Although the film features appearances by Bob Barker and “CSI“-star Jorja Fox, the lions are the real stars of the movie — especially Colo Colo, an aggressive 12-year-old lion that’s spent his entire life in the same small cage.

He claws and snarls at rescuers, and when he’s finally released into a more spacious holding cage, Colo Colo launches himself at ADI President Jan Creamer who calms him with a drink from a watering can. When the lion is finally released and walks on grass for the first time, it’s one of the most poignant moments of the film.

Today, the 25 lions — many of which spent years confined to a cage by themselves — live in prides at the 320-acre The Wild Animal Sanctuary near Denver in one of the largest captive lion enclosures in the world.

“Lion Ark” will be on the international film festival circuit in June. To find a screening near you, visit the movie’s website. Check out the trailer below.

Trailer & News Link:-http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/04/lion-ark-documentary-animal-rescue_n_3385212.html

Lion Ark

The sampler( below in link) was made as we started work on Lion Ark, it gives a taste of this action driven documentary following the world’s most ambitious and daring animal rescue, with a narrative meticulously compiled from interviews, conversations and the reactions of participants as events actually unfolded.

The making of Lion Ark & lots more interesting clips: http://www.lionarkthemovie.com/

ADI New Video: Elephant Training At Have Trunk Will Travel – No Fun For Elephants

Animals in entertainment

Animal Defenders International’s undercover investigations go behind the scenes, exposing the abuses wherever animals are forced to perform, including movies, circuses, advertisements, special events and rides. In fact, many of the companies provide animals across this spectrum of entertainment. For example, in Perris, California, ADI captured on video the trainers and owners of Have Trunk Will Travel violently beating and electric shocking their elephants in training sessions and routine husbandry.

These elephants including Tai and Rosie, the famed movie stars of ‘Water for Elephants’ and ‘Zookeeper’, are also hired out for weddings, elephant rides at county fairs, TV ads, and even forced to travel cross-country to do ridiculous tricks in the circus. You can help ADI shine a spotlight on and end the abuse of animals in entertainment. ADI conducts letter writing and email campaigns to legislators, studios, advertising firms and local newspaper editors, and organizes outreach events when the circus comes to town. Find our current campaigns and how you can help detailed below. Together, we will make a difference!

Click here:- http://www.ad-international.org/animals_in_entertainment/

News Letters:-http://www.ad-international.org/newsletter/

Out Of Control ADI Parliamentary Briefing: Wild Animals in Circuses PDF Document:- https://www.ad-international.org/admin/downloads/adi_parlbrief_circus_regulation_oct_2011f.pdf

Elephant Training at Have Trunk Will Travel

Published on 21 Mar 2013

ADI investigation of Have Trunk Will Travel, based in California, which shows trainers and owners violently beating and electric shocking their elephants in training sessions and routine husbandry.

Support our campaign to end the use of animals in entertainment 
http://www.ad-international.org/anima…

No Fun For Elephants!

PLEASE WATCH & SHARE this incredible new video “No Fun for Elephants” narrated by Bob Barker and help ADI end the use of elephants giving rides at fairs, performing in circuses, and making appearances at parades and other events in the United States. ADI is sending copies of the DVD, which features our undercover footage, to fair and event organizers all over the country. PLEASE HELP ADI STOP THE SUFFERING – Donate now to help this campaign and our investigations.

Get involved – send a polite email or letter to event organizers in your neighborhood, urging them to stop offering elephant rides. Email usa@ad-international.orgfor information.

Click here to learn more.

Donate now to help this campaign and our investigations

No Fun For Elephants!

Published on 28 Feb 2013

Animal Defenders International (ADI) has launched the first nationwide initiative in the U.S. about the use of elephants giving rides or making appearances at public events. At the heart of the campaign is a new DVD narrated by Emmy award winning TV host Bob Barker entitled ‘No Fun For Elephants,’ featuring harrowing undercover footage from inside elephant training facilities in California, as well as abuse of an elephant on tour by a Texas-owned company. The ‘No Fun For Elephants’ DVD is being mailed to event organizers across the U.S., including board members of county fairs, renaissance fairs and organizers of town parades, urging them to adopt a humane ‘no elephant rides or performances’ policy, in view of the suffering these animals endure. 

For more information: 
http://www.ad-international.org/anima….

DEFRA to waste nearly £300,000 of public money on unwanted scheme

 

ADI is appalled to hear that DEFRA plans to spend £261,000 on developing a licensing scheme for wild animals in circuses, when the majority of members of parliament (63%) and members of the public (94.5%) have already stated that they want to see a ban.

Jan Creamer, Chief Executive of ADI said:“This is a political and ethical matter that should be decided by the majority public will. Yet the Government has repeatedly ignored the public and parliamentary will on this issue. We asked this question because Defra had already revealed in their impact assessment that a licensing scheme would cost £75,600 as a one-off cost as well as annual costs of £19,400. What is interesting is that Defra has not disclosed how much they have already spent on a licensing scheme, which flies in the face of the decision of the MPs Backbench Committee of the House of Commons in June of last year which directed the Government to ban wild animals in circuses”

In a response to a written question from Mike Hancock MP on behalf of ADI, Defra replied that their budget from July 2012 to October 2012 for taking forward the implementation of licensing regulations, as well as developing the case for a ban on the use of performing wild animals in travelling circuses, is estimated at £261,000. No mention is made of how much has been spent to date.

• Make a donation to our Stop Circus Suffering campaign

Read our statement concerning the licensing scheme here

News Link:-http://www.ad-international.org/animals_in_entertainment/go.php?id=2827&ssi=10

 

Britain’s biggest wild animal circus sells its animals

“Well that explains where Mr Lacey’s tigers are going…from one circus to another…shameful”

Posted: 22 August 2012. Updated: 23 August 2012

The largest wild animal circus in the UK is selling off its animals. Martin Lacey, owner of the Great British Circus told Horse and Hound magazine that he plans to go animal free.

Jan Creamer, President of ADI said: “We have shown incidents of animal cruelty and suffering at the Great British Circus on a number of occasions, so we are pleased that animals will no longer suffer in this circus. We welcome the news that the circus is to go animal free – businesses can continue successfully with just human performers and there are many shows that do that. We can only hope that this provides an incentive for the Government to bring in a ban, while there are so few wild animals in UK circuses. The public and parliament both want it, and it would draw a line under this archaic use of animals once and for all.”

In 2009, ADI secured video footage of the elephants touring with the Great British Circus being viciously abused behind the scenes, by a worker and presenter. ADI also revealed how the circus had presented Parliament with claims that they did not chain elephants, yet continuous video evidence showed elephants chained every day, for up to 11 hours.

A previous investigation of the circus (then known as Circus Harlequin), filmed tigers being beaten and screamed at, a lioness being smashed in the mouth by a tent pole, and a seriously injured lioness being concealed during a welfare inspection.

• Donate now and help us undertake more investigations and secure a ban in the UK.
• Read our response to calls for the animals to be purchased here

Mr Lacey’s group of four Friesians, a zebra and two other horses that perform a “little and large” act are advertised for sale in Horse and Hound. Mr Lacey said four other zebras had gone to a private collector along with some camels.

A Great British Circus worker recently informed an ADI investigator that the tigers currently with the circus are to be sold to an Italian Circus, although this has yet to be confirmed

Several other major British circuses once known for wild animal acts have become animal-free shows, including Gerry Cottle’s Circus (currently touring) and Chipperfield’s Circus.

Jan Creamer: “It’s very sad that Mr Lacey has not shown compassion and retired his tigers, who have earned so much money for him, and suffered an arduous, deprived life in the travelling circus. We would certainly help with rehoming as we have done with many circus animals. This just underscores the point that these animals are not family, they are tools and now they are no longer needed, they are being sold on.”

ADI currently has in its care 31 lions rescued from circuses.

News Link:–http://www.ad-international.org/animals_in_entertainment/go.php?id=2780&ssi=10

• Read more about our investigation of the Great British Circus here.

4,000 monkeys saved as Colombian vivisector loses wild capture permit

Colombia: ADI has described the decision by the Administrative Tribunal of Cundinamarca to revoke permits to capture wild owl monkeys for malaria experiments as a “breakthrough for animal protection and conservation”.

The Tribunal ruled that research on owl (night) monkeys, by Manuel Elkin Patarroyo, breached Colombia’s commitment to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

The permits, planned to run until 2015, would have allowed Patarroyo to trap 4,000 primates for experiments related to malaria vaccine at the Institute of Immunology Foundation of Colombia (FIDIC).

ADI undercover investigators secured video footage of the laboratory’s monkey trapping operation along the Amazon. The ADI video shows trappers searching the forests by night for owl monkeys; the trees netted and the tiny monkeys, unable to escape, are torn from their homes; terrified and screaming, they are pushed into sacks for the journey up river to the laboratory. The team also filmed inside FIDIC where the monkeys are kept inside tiny barren, metal cages, a shocking contrast to their native forest homes.

Jan Creamer, ADI Chief Executive said: “We are delighted that the Tribunal has taken decisive action, preventing the horrific suffering of thousands of monkeys and the potential devastation of wild populations. We hope that the next step will be to end these cruel experiments once and for all.”

In the ruling, the Tribunal criticised the Ministry of Environment for failing to exercise controls concerning the hunting and scientific study of primates. It further stated that because import permits for owl monkeys of the species Aotus nancymae were not required, this fuelled a trade for these primates, in contravention of CITES regulations.

The Tribunal found that there had also been a number of anomalies in permissions granted to Patarroyo dating back to 1984, which included irregularities in permit procedures and breach of obligations and prohibitions of Colombia’s National Resources Code.

As a result of the Tribunal, disciplinary action against officials at the Ministry of Environment is now being initiated. FIDIC and the Corporation for Sustainable Development of Southern Amazonia (Corpoamazonia) were also sanctioned.

Researcher Angela Maldonado, lawyer Gabriel Vanegas and ADI submitted evidence to the tribunal; Angela is Project Director of Fundacion Entropika, whose educational and census work with local communities, with ADI funding, has reduced the hunting of owl monkeys in the Amazon. The unique work by ADI undercover investigators and Angela’s study team has assisted her work in the region to protect owl monkeys.

• Read about ADI’s investigation into South American monkey trade here
• Watch our Save the Primates video here (the owl monkey trapping and research footage can be viewed at 3:40-5:05)
• Make a donation to support our investigations here

 News Link:–http://www.ad-international.org/animal_experiments/go.php?id=2724&ssi=83

Stereotypic Behavior of Animals Confined in Circuses

“This leads on from the last post about circuses. It’s not a new video, I just want to remind people what it’s like for circus animals to live in a repetitive industry like the circus, that literally drives the animals mad!  When not performing indignant tricks, their stuck in cramped trailers with nothing to do. Which results in the vices we now know today as stereotypical behaviors; the likely cause of these abnormal behaviours is the lack of appropriate normal stimuli” 

 

Uploaded by animaldefenders on 23 Mar 2008

The scientific literature show that carnivores, in particular members of the cat family and bears, suffer as a result of captivity. This evidence has mainly been gathered in zoo studies, where the animals have a permanent residence. In most modern zoos, efforts are now made to create a habitat as close to the animals’ natural environment as possible.
However due to the travelling nature of circuses, it is impossible to provide the animals with these things, therefore one can assume that any negative effects of captivity seen in zoos will be worse in the circus environment.

Elephants in circuses are commonly shackled as a method of control and confinement, involving the chaining of one foreleg and one hind leg to the ground. This kind of fixation restricts the freedom of movement to such a degree that these animals are not able to exhibit most of their species’ typical behaviours. It also restricts social interactions because contact is limited to an immediate neighbouring elephant shackled beside them (Schmid, 1995). Although many circuses now claim to give their elephants some degree of regular access to a pen or outdoor enclosure, it is debatable how much time they can spend in such an enclosure when the circus is always on the move and the elephants have to be prepared for their performances. These animals also tend to be chained overnight, from the time that the workers finish their day, to when they arrive for work the next day — this can mean over 50% of their time (ADI observation data).

However even when elephants are able to spend time unchained, they are still subject to conditions of close confinement. Consequently stereotypies occur in captive elephants, regardless of the method of husbandry used.

• Further reading–http://www.ad-international.org/animals_in_entertainment/go.php?id=2631&ssi=10
• http://www.ad-international.org/publications/go.php?id=1837
• http://www.ad-international.org/publications/go.php?id=1840
• http://www.aps.uoguelph.ca/~gmason/StereotypicAnimalBehaviour/library.shtml