Ringling Brothers to End Elephant Act In May

A company spokeswoman said that after officials began preparing for the move, they realized they could transfer the almost dozen touring elephants "much sooner than anticipated".

Feld Entertainment, parent company of the touring circus, said all of its Asian elephants will move to its elephant conservation center in Florida.

It costs about $65,000 yearly to care for each elephant, she said, and the company had to build new structures to house the retiring elephants at the center.

Come May, 11 Ringling Bros. circus elephants will be loaded onto trucks and train cars and leave behind their busy performing lives for the leisure and relaxation of an early retirement in Polk City, Florida.

"There's been somewhat of a mood shift among our consumers", said Alana Feld, the company's executive vice president.

The elephants' retirement brings the total number of elephants at the conservation site to 42.

In 1907, Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth was bought by the Ringling brothers, who at the time were Barnum & Bailey's biggest rival. And could they handle the additional waste, water and food associated with 11 more elephants?

"All of the resources used to fight these things can be put towards the elephants", said Feld in March. LCA's Sam Simon Special Investigations Unit documents abuse in research labs, puppy mills, factory farms, and the entertainment industry, and works with prosecutors to put animal abusers behind bars.

Compared with just one copy in humans, elephants' cells contain 20 copies of a major cancer-suppressing gene, two teams of scientists reported in October.

Cancer is rare in elephants for reasons that are not yet clear, and the CEC is working with pediatric oncologist Dr. Joshua Schiffman to find out why.

Past year we also told you about a rumor that Feld Entertainment would be purchased by Disney. It is home to the largest concentration of Asian elephants in North America, including 26 baby elephants born there since it opened in 1995.

Payne said there has been talk of opening the facility to the community but there is nothing set in stone.

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