“The exciting announcement sends a powerful message to the entire industry, something that PETA’s been saying for decades: Cruelty doesn’t belong in the circus or in any other form of entertainment,” the organization told the Herald-Tribune. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which was behind many of the protests, said it is thrilled with the concept of a circus without animal acts. Officials also blamed increased railroad costs, and the rise of online games and videos, which made the “Greatest Show On Earth” not seem that great anymore. Without the elephants, ticket sales declined. The three-ring circus shut down in May 2017 after a 146-year run.Ĭostly court battles with animal rights activists led circus officials to end elephant acts in 2016. and Barnum & Bailey Circus - without animal acts.Īn announcement is expected sometime next year, according to Nicole Zimmerman, a spokesperson for Feld Entertainment Inc. (AP) - Four years after the “Greatest Show On Earth” shut down, officials are planning to bring back the Ringling Bros. They’re really suffering.FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. “The only empathy I feel for them is that they’re losing something they’re fond of… but I feel more sorry for the animals,” she said. The circus negotiated with law enforcement for about an hour, but after being threatened with arrest and imprisonment, they relented, and agreed to release the animals.Īs the animals were rounded up, the family appeared to be heartbroken, but Creamer has little sympathy for them. The issue, the prosecutor told the circus owners, was not how the animals were being treated, but that the circus had them in the first place.
#CIRCUS ANIMAL S FULL#
“I suddenly look up and there's a little truck coming and it's full of riot police … They all jump out with the riot shields.” “ a bit like the cavalry coming,” Phillips said. Outnumbered by circus workers, ADI thought they would have to abandon their mission.īut then reinforcements, including the local prosecutor, arrived and stepped in. Phillips, Creamer and the officials tried to convince the Valderama family to surrender their animals, but they refused, insisting that they have never harmed them. When Phillips and Creamer arrived on-site at the Koreander circus, along with a few wildlife officials, they immediately spotted a mountain lion and condor - animals forbidden under the new laws. A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclists as well as other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. The monkeys were taken to the Pilpintuwasi Wildlife Sanctuary deep in Peru’s rainforest, and the big cats will be taken to a nature reserve in South Africa.
After caring for the rescued animals, Creamer and Phillips then find them new homes. The couple had 24 lions and more than 40 primates living at their center when “Nightline” was there, and many carried scars from abuse. “We give them footballs and toys and try and keep them exercised and try and get the guys to play with them every now and again,” Creamer said, referring to a lioness living at the center. But actually enforcing the law is a whole different challenge, and often times angry circus owners are desperate to hold on to their biggest stars, like lions and tigers.Īfter the animals are seized, they brought to ADI’s Spirit of Freedom center near Lima, Peru, where they receive medical care and much needed playtime. in terms of ending the use of animals in traveling circuses. Claws cut off … and I think people have said enough is enough.”Ĭreamer said Latin America is way ahead of the U.S. They’re kept in tiny deplorable conditions. “There’s a routine and casual violence towards animals in circuses to keep them subjugated and keep them in their place,” Phillips said. “The problem in the circuses here is that lack of understanding of the suffering they’re causing just by the way the animal is being kept,” Creamer said.ĪDI’s undercover investigations documenting horrific abuses have inspired several Latin American countries, including Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Panama and now Peru to outlaw wild animal acts in circuses.
Phillips and Creamer have been at the forefront of the global animal rights movement for decades, making it their life’s mission to rescue circus animals and place them in sanctuaries. This story is part of a YouTube channel called timesXtwo, a joint venture between "Nightline" and BBC Digital Current Affairs.
“Nightline” was granted exclusive access to the final days of ADI’s operation to rescue circus animals throughout Peru, which included going after the Koreander Circus, an operation that led to a tense standoff between wildlife authorities and the circus animal owners. Phillips and Creamer are the driving force behind Animal Defenders International (ADI), an animal rights group based in the United Kingdom assisting authorities in Peru. They die where they are… we can’t afford to fail them.”