Ringling Brothers

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'Greatest Show on Earth' Takes Its Final Bow

Ringling Bros. performs last show in New York

(Newser) - The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus that has wowed crowds for 146 years with its "Greatest Show on Earth" is taking its final bow on Sunday. The circus' last show at the Nassau County Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, is sold out, and former circus performers will...

After 146 Years, 'Greatest Show on Earth' Closes

The American icon is felled by attendance, costs, animal rights concerns

(Newser) - After 146 years, the curtain is coming down on "The Greatest Show on Earth." The owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus told the AP that the show will close forever in May. The iconic American spectacle was felled by a declining attendance, high operating...

Ringling Bros. Elephants Perform for the Very Last Time

The animals will live out their days at a conservation center in Florida

(Newser) - Elephants will perform for the last time at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus on Sunday, as the show closes its own chapter on a controversial practice that has entertained audiences since circuses began in America two centuries ago. Six Asian elephants will deliver their final performances in...

Ringling Elephants Taking an Early Retirement Package

Touring pachyderms will head to Florida in May instead of waiting for 2018

(Newser) - The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is ending its elephant acts a year and a half early and will retire all of its touring elephants in May. The move comes amid increasing scrutiny on circus elephant acts, with local governments passing "anti-circus" and "anti-elephant" ordinances in...

Ringling Bros. Is Dumping Its Iconic Elephants

America's most-famous circus says the animals will be phased out by 2018

(Newser) - A day after some critics laid into Prince William for visiting an animal sanctuary that reportedly uses elephants to entertain tourists , America's most famous circus group is expected to officially announce today it's dropping its own pachyderms. The parent company for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus...

9 Ringling Acrobats Hurt in Fall

Performers dropped between 25 and 40 feet

(Newser) - Nine acrobats were seriously injured today after falling 25 to 40 feet from an aerial platform during a circus performance, a safety official said. The accident happened at around 11:45am during the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus' Legends show at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence. Providence...

Circus Elephant Injured ... in Drive-by Shooting

'Carol' is OK after getting hit with bullet in Tupelo, Mississippi

(Newser) - Even animal-rights activists who hate the circus couldn't have dreamed up this potential pitfall: An elephant with Ringling Bros. was wounded overnight in a drive-by shooting in Tupelo, Mississippi, reports the Clarion-Ledger . The good news is that "Carol," who was in an outdoor enclosure at the time,...

Animal Rights Group Pays Circus $9.3M

ASPCA settles lawsuits with Ringling Bros.

(Newser) - An animal rights group has paid $9.3 million to settle two federal court cases over the treatment of circus elephants, CNN reports. Feld Entertainment Inc., which owns Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, is trumpeting the settlement with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals...

Ringling Pays $270K Animal Welfare Fine

Circus mistreated elephants and tigers, feds say

(Newser) - The Ringling Brothers circus—without admitting wrongdoing—has paid $270,000 to settle federal accusations that it mistreated elephants, tigers, zebras, and other exotic animals. Federal inspectors found that a sick elephant was forced to perform, elephants' faces were cut by sharp edges in transport trailers, big cats were kept...

Ringling Circus Elephant Collapses

Sarah, 54, is seriously ill and needs treatment: animal activists

(Newser) - A Ringling Brothers elephant collapsed as she was being loaded onto a circus train, triggering cries of abuse. The spectacle in Anaheim was captured on film by animal rights activists who were keeping an eye on circus activities. Circus spokesmen claimed that 54-year-old Asian elephant Sarah merely tripped and was...

Loose Zebra Causes Havoc in Atlanta

Ringling Bros. circus animal apprehended on congested highway

(Newser) - An escaped Ringling Brothers circus zebra led police on a mile-long high-speed chase yesterday in Atlanta, interfering with traffic on the city’s already congested Interstate. The episode lasted about 40 minutes, the AP reports. “All of a sudden a freaking zebra comes running down the street like a...

PETA Pulls First Lady Ads
 PETA Pulls First Lady Ads 
New Target: 'BARACK' the ELEPHANT
Jan 14, 2010 8:12 AM CST

PETA Pulls First Lady Ads

Animal rights group ends campaign featuring Michelle Obama

(Newser) - PETA has decided to pull the “Fur-Free and Fabulous” campaign that featured Michelle Obama—without her permission. PETA’s president last week confirmed the organization didn’t seek Obama’s consent because she can’t make such an endorsement, but insisted that because the first lady has called herself...

Judge Sides With Circus in Elephant Cruelty Case

Judge says plaintiff wasn't credible

(Newser) - A judge threw out an elephant abuse lawsuit against Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, saying the plaintiff, former Ringling employee Tom Rider, hadn’t demonstrated a close enough attachment to the animals. Rider and the Animal Protection Institute had argued that circus practices like using bull hooks on elephants...

Ringling Trainer's Photos Fuel Abuse Charges

Qualms about baby elephant treatment leads trainer to PETA

(Newser) - The posthumous confessions of a former Ringling Bros. elephant wrangler have given PETA new ammunition in its ongoing fight against the nation’s biggest circus, which it accuses of animal cruelty. Sammy Haddock, who appears to have been seeking absolution, documented what he attested is brutish behavior towards baby elephants...

PETA Releases Video of Circus Elephant Abuse

(Newser) - PETA has released video it says shows cruelty to circus elephants, the Orange County Register reports. The tape shows Ringling Bros. handlers swatting elephants with “bull hooks,” and one pachyderm exhibiting signs of “severe psychological distress.” “This video again shows what we have been saying...

Elephants Humble Humans in Eating Contest

One light lunch for the pachyderms equals one crushing defeat for mankind

(Newser) - The fastest eaters mankind could muster were no match for the competition yesterday as Coney Island held its first-ever eating competition between people and pachyderms, NY1 reports. The trio of elephants comfortably munched a combined total of 505 hot dog buns in 6 minutes, while the three humans sweated and...

NYC Weighs Ban on Circus Elephants

(Newser) - The circus is in town, and in a related development, the New York City Council is considering a ban on the display of "wild or exotic animals" for entertainment, the Times reports. The bill, understood to be aimed at the Ringling Brothers pachyderms, has the support of almost half...

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