In 1997-98 a British animal protection group gathered video documentation of the vicious beating of a chimpanzee and an elephant at the world famous Chipperfield Circus winter quarters. In 1994, spectators in Lebanon, Oregon watched in horror as an animal trainer with the King Royal Circus violently assaulted Mickey, an Asian elephant, for refusing to perform. Several years later, King Royal again made the headlines when police officers in Albuquerque, New Mexico chanced upon a trailer swaying oddly in a hotel parking lot. Apart from those cases of obvious animal abuse which sometimes come to light, wild animals in circuses are subjected to ongoing deprivation, intensive training methods and chronic confinement. They routinely endure long periods of travel in cramped, barren quarters.
Tigers spend most of their day confined in small cages.
Elephants are routinely chained in one position, unable to move about freely or express the full range of their natural behaviors. The ongoing stress of their lives often leads to abnormal behavior patterns such as continuous pacing or swaying. To learn more about what you can do to end the use of wild animals in circuses, contact The Humane Society of the United States at 2100 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037-1525.