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Circus Myths

Circuses that use animals still exist today because of several myths that they want the public to believe: 

Myth #1:  Performing elephants are engaging
in their “natural behaviors.”

Most scientists who study elephants in the wild say they have never seen an elephant stand on its head or engage in many of the other unnatural acts that the animals are forced to perform in the circus. Yet Ringling Brothers and other circuses tell the public that these behaviors are “natural” and that the tricks are designed around these natural behaviors.  In reality, the elephants endure days, weeks, months, and years of training with sharp metal tipped bull hooks and other tools to learn these unnatural tricks, and to “obey” their handlers and be completely submissive. Circus trainers use a type of training called “free contact” to break the elephants’ spirits and dominate them with force and intimidation.

Myth #2:  Circus elephants receive the “highest standard of care.”

Far from receiving the “highest standard of care,” circus elephants are forcibly separated from their mothers when they are very young, beaten with bull hooks, and kept in chains for most of their lives. Several baby elephants have died in recent years under suspicious circumstances, and at least 10 Ringling Bros. elephants have tested positive for tuberculosis. See About Ringling Brothers. To truly see elephants in captivity receiving the “highest standard of care,” visit the “elecam” on the website of the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee which rescues abused and neglected elephants, at www.elephants.com.

Myth #3:  Ringling Brothers is “conserving” Asian elephants.

Ringling Brothers and other circuses are allowed to keep Asian elephants in captivity because they claim to be “conserving” this endangered species for future generations. In reality, Ringling Bros. is not breeding elephants to return them to the wild, nor is it preserving their natural habitat.  Rather, Ringling Brothers is simply breeding elephants to stock its extremely profitable circus.  Watching elephants perform unnatural acts in a circus performance, and seeing them stand chained on concrete for hours while they sway back and forth, is counter productive to educate the public about the true nature and biology of these magnificent creatures, their natural habitat, and the risk of extinction that they currently face.

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