While Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will stop using elephants in their shows beginning in 2018, Charleston officials say they haven’t heard of any changes for this year’s production.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — When the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus make its annual stop at the Charleston Civic Center next month, the circus’s iconic Asian elephants will march through downtown Charleston in a parade and perform tricks for thousands of cheering circus-goers.
The days of pachyderm sightings in Charleston may be numbered, though, since the circus announced Thursday it is voluntarily removing elephants from its show by 2018 due to growing public concern about the animals’ treatment.
Civic Center General Manager John Robertson said Civic Center staff have not heard anything from Feld Entertainment, the parent company of Ringling Bros., that would indicate elephants would be excluded from the shows in Charleston this year. According to Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey’s website, eight shows are scheduled from April 23 to 26 at the Civic Center.
“As far as we know, everything will be same,” Robertson said. “Don’t expect any changes this year,”
Animal rights activists took credit for Feld Entertainment’s decision to eliminate elephants from its U.S. circus shows. In a play off the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s slogan, a 2011 Mother Jones investigative report into the circus’s treatment of elephants called the circus “The Cruelest Show on Earth.”
Local animal rights activist Priscilla Pope said documentaries, videos and reports on the ways elephants are treated behind-the-scenes has contributed to the shift in public opinion on the elephants’ use in the circus.
“It’s a step forward, and I am extremely happy that they’re going to stop eventually, but I think they should just stop right now…