Ringling Brothers circus is closing. What does that mean for zoos?

The Famed Ringling Brothers Circus is Closing. The headline caught me by surprise and it made me sad. I knew they had decided to discontinue their elephant act and figured their other animal shows would soon follow. But the other aspects of the circus—the acrobats, the human cannonballs, and the clowns—could continue to thrill audiences. Just look at the popularity of the Cirque du Soleil. But, according to forbes.com, circus attendance in the United States has dropped by an estimated 30% to 50% over the last twenty years. That, along with high operating costs, apparently made the modern circus an unsustainable business.

I suppose the animal rights activists (PETA and HSUS) can take a little credit. They protested and picketed mercilessly on behalf of the animals. And the circus shares the blame for dragging its feet on making improvements to its animal programs. While I am not convinced that circus life in inherently bad for animals, I do believe that circuses failed to recognize how passionately some people feel about animal welfare.

We are, I believe, in the midst of some significant cultural shifts—many of which were evident in the recent presidential election. How do we make sense of our collective feelings about women in politics, gay rights, the legalization of marijuana, immigration policies, and health care reform. Is the demise of the circus a reflection of a cultural shift away from a particular type of entertainment or is it simply a matter of economics—the travelling circus is too expensive to produce.

Over the same period that circuses have been declining zoos appear to have thrived, perhaps due to their aggressive programs of animal welfare and enrichment. Zoos have spent millions on large and innovative animal habitats, and they have made sure their constituents were invested in their programs.

All of this causes me to reflect on how the history of American zoos and circuses are intertwined. The traveling circus menagerie was the precursor to the modern American zoo, and circuses and zoos have coexisted and supported each other for more than a century. (See my blogs from July 2015.) Now, I wonder what the demise of the circus means for zoos. Are zoos doing enough to stave off extinction? In the coming weeks, I'll take a look.

In Search of Eden - Chapter 3

The Circus Menagerie                                   

Before zoos began to develop in North America, there was the circus menagerie. Traveling, tented circuses became popular in America in the early years of the nineteenth century, and their story was chronicled in William Cameron Coup’s 1901 book, Sawdust & Spangles: Stories & Secrets of the Circus. Coup was born in 1837 and ran away to join the circus as a teenager. He was an eye witness to its early history, which he wrote about in his book.

The circus and the menagerie, in those days, were separate and distinct attractions and, while the menagerie had the greater drawing power, it was only exhibited in the daytime. The circus, on the other hand, was presented at night. In the 1850's, according to Coup, proprietors began to merge and exhibit circuses and menageries together and their popularity exploded.

The supply of rare and exotic creatures for these traveling menageries fueled a robust, international trade in animals. According to Coup, there were at least two features of the animal business before the turn of the twentieth century which were seldom exaggerated. These features were the huge cost of stocking a menagerie and the danger inherent in the capture and handling of the wild animals. Coup found it thrilling to consider “the lives that have been lost, the sufferings and hardships endured, the perils encountered, and the vast sums of money expended in the capture and transportation of wild animals for the menageries, museums and zoological gardens”.

After he became the head of a circus, Coup had extensive dealings with the Reiche Brothers animal importers. Charles Reiche ran the New York office while his brother, Henry, operated a large supply farm in Germany that handled animals from around the world. Their most extensive field operations were in Africa where they had numerous stations, with sheiks or chiefs in their employ, and standing rewards offered to natives for choice specimens of rare birds or beasts. 

Jumbo

One of the most famous circus menagerie animals of all time was killed at 9:30 in the evening on September 15^th, 1885 when Jumbo the elephant was struck by a freight train while crossing the tracks in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. Jumbo’s story began twenty-four years earlier in Northern Africa when he was captured, sold to an animal dealer, and transported across the Mediterranean. He spent time at the zoo in Paris and, in 1865, he was shipped to England where he became a popular fixture at the London Zoo. He eventually reached a height of about twelve feet at the shoulder and a weight of about seven tons.

In 1881, Jumbo came to the attention of circus magnate P.T. Barnum. Jumbo's size had become

legendary and Barnum wished to acquire the largest elephant in the world. He purchased Jumbo from the zoo for ten thousand dollars. In March of 1882, after considerable difficulty, Jumbo was packed into an enormous crate and left England for America. He arrived in New York on April 9^th with much fanfare, and the next day he was displayed at Madison Square Garden. Jumbo spent the next three years crisscrossing the Continent, transported in his own train car. He drew huge crowds for Barnum, even though he performed no tricks like the other elephants – merely his presence was enough.

From Circus to Zoo

By the turn of the twentieth century, circus menageries were the primary animal exhibitors in America. Few American zoos had large animals, like elephants, since most zoos were little more than deer parks. Circuses had far better collections and, of course, reached larger and geographically broader audiences. In fact, the first elephants, lions, rhinos, and hippos at many early American zoos came from circuses, and the zoo enclosures these animals entered were eerily like the ones I encountered at the beginning of my career at the old Toronto Zoo, nearly seventy years later.

Next #FridayBlog - the Toronto Zoo, Frank Buck, and "Bring Em Back Alive"