After 146 Years, Ringling Brothers Circus Takes Its Final Bow

[freedomno1]

The end of an American Icon and a part of history


The lights went up on the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus on Sunday evening to reveal 14 lions and tigers sitting in a circle, surrounding a man in a sparkling suit. It was a sight too implausible to seem real yet such an iconic piece of Americana that it was impossible to believe the show would not go on.

After 146 years, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey is closing for good, responding to a prolonged slump in ticket sales that has rendered the business unsustainable, according to its operator, Feld Entertainment. On Sunday, the circus glittered, thundered and awed beneath the booms and klieg lights of Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. That there was no tent over the final show, no striped eaves from which the daring young man on the flying trapeze could hang, felt fitting. The big top was packed up, this time forever.

Autumn Luciano stood outside, ticket in hand. “It feels a little like a funeral today, but I’m trying not to mourn it in a sad way,” said Ms. Luciano, 33, a pinup photographer who had flown in from Lansing, Mich., to see the last show. “Circus is all about being happy.”

She pulled up her sleeve to reveal a tattoo of a circus tent on her wrist. Without circuses, “we lose the ability to go and see that humans can do anything,” she said. “You go to the circus and see human beings doing insane things, but the truth is, we all have the ability to do crazy things.”

...
The world is losing “a place of wonder,” he said at an event a few days before the final performances. All around him, performers with thick makeup and saddened faces spoke to reporters about the circus’s demise. “It’s the last safe space,” he said. “It’s the last pure form of entertainment there is.”

“To this day, the final performance with the elephants is the hardest performance I have ever had to go through,” she said. “I had to say goodbye to elephants I’d been with since they were born. They were part of my family.”

“You can cry,” Mr. Iverson said, “after the curtain closes.”

As the show finally ended, the backstage crew members, the animal handlers, the performers’ small children and even the train engineers joined the performers on the arena floor, standing with the costumed dancers. They sang a round of “Auld Lang Syne.”

But before that, the people in the crowd rose to their feet for a prolonged ovation. The ringmaster cheered back at them, “You mean the circus isn’t antiquated?” The crowd roared. “You mean you love the circus?” he said. The noise was deafening.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/21/nyregion/ringling-brothers-circus-takes-final-bow.html

A farewell and a victory to PETA


Meanwhile the attempt to remove horses from tourism and fine dining and making them a historical footnote continues.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/videos-prompt-renewed-calls-to-ban-horse-drawn-carriages-in-quebec-1.3423659
http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/horse-meat-reaction-blown-out-of-proportion-toronto-chef-1.3411411

[mightydollar]

While this is a sad ending to a circus with a long history the picture is not so grim in its entirety. Many of these talented actors will most likely find their places in other circuses across the world. Some might even become part of Cirque du Soleil.

[otrkid70]

Good Riddance to 146 years of animal abuse and torture.

[TheCoinGrabber]

Congratulations PETA. Hopefully this is a big enough victory that you'll make sure none of your members kidnap pets for euthanizing.

[GreenBits]

While this is a sad ending to a circus with a long history the picture is not so grim in its entirety. Many of these talented actors will most likely find their places in other circuses across the world. Some might even become part of Cirque du Soleil.

Political correctness caught up with tradition, it happens often nowadays. The optics on keeping animals for entertainment have grown dim in recent years, thanks to the corporate treatment of animals-as-attractions. Instead of treating the animals with respect, they kept the animals in squalid conditions and treated them poorly (think SeaWorld). Profit chasing turned into public outrage, then regulation. The industry brought this upon itself, but this was inevitable. People did pay to watch gladiator events in the past, and parents would bring kids to beheadings and lychings, they would even pack a lunch Tastes change over time; this was a victim of that.

Sucks for the trainers and performers though. These are unique skills, dying arts, so to speak.

They should have adapted. Lost the animals and focused on human acts like the Vegas circuit.

[freedomno1]

The real issue comes down to human development making wild animals extinct.

Solutions involve:
1. Halting economic development completely and building nature reserves
(Issues include they are expensive it is hard to georestrict a species if the reserve is to small, and that it maximizes the negative impact outside of protected areas, there are also the costs involved to reduce poaching, the need for subsidizes to maintain the area which can fluctuate based on political will or funding to animal right organizations, and a stable nation not involved in civil war or with high poverty, which is a high bar to raise.

2. Integrating animals into society as a recreational device while providing an economic incentive
Here we see zoos, aquariums, circuses etc which in order to develop an economy need healthy skilled animals and by extension trainers in order to remain self-sufficient without a subsidy.
We can all adopt cats and kittens but will anyone logically adopt a full grown tiger cub or bear, besides Jasmine in Aladdin or Ranger Smith.

The question is how to add incentive's to animal preservation without government regulation or laws expensive enforcement and a means of security the animals are treated properly.

PETA ignores that in these cases and is just like OH Look this is trauma and abuse they should be wild and free even though they have been trained to be friendly to humans and would not stand a chance in the wild. Political correctness in this case is a lack of a culture poisoning the well, since the reality is we either have animals that we take care of through an economic incentive or leave them to true extinction as a consequence of human development in countries throughout the world.

So I propose that PETA should be the ones running the Zoos and animal sanctuaries so they can put their money where their mouth is.

[GreenBits]

The real issue comes down to human development making wild animals extinct.

Solutions involve:
1. Halting economic development completely and building nature reserves
(Issues include they are expensive it is hard to georestrict a species if the reserve is to small, and that it maximizes the negative impact outside of protected areas, there are also the costs involved to reduce poaching, the need for subsidizes to maintain the area which can fluctuate based on political will or funding to animal right organizations, and a stable nation not involved in civil war or with high poverty, which is a high bar to raise.

2. Integrating animals into society as a recreational device while providing an economic incentive
Here we see zoos, aquariums, circuses etc which in order to develop an economy need healthy skilled animals and by extension trainers in order to remain self-sufficient without a subsidy.
We can all adopt cats and kittens but will anyone logically adopt a full grown tiger cub or bear, besides Jasmine in Aladdin or Ranger Smith.

The question is how to add incentive's to animal preservation without government regulation or laws expensive enforcement and a means of security the animals are treated properly.

PETA ignores that in these cases and is just like OH Look this is trauma and abuse they should be wild and free even though they have been trained to be friendly to humans and would not stand a chance in the wild. Political correctness in this case is a lack of a culture poisoning the well, since the reality is we either have animals that we take care of through an economic incentive or leave them to true extinction as a consequence of human development in countries throughout the world.

So I propose that PETA should be the ones running the Zoos and animal sanctuaries so they can put their money where their mouth is.

I had never considered this, but goddamnit this seems like a good idea. I'm.moderate on regulation, but who better to kiss the animals asses than them? I'm not even mad at that, they love animals, fuck it, let's put that to use. They should provide the highest level of care due to their level of concern; and they get more than enough in private donations to keep everything going, it would take little fed/state subsidy to maintain.

You get a cookie. Hilariously sarcastic at the end, but fucking brilliant, man.

[TheCoinGrabber]

The real issue comes down to human development making wild animals extinct.

Solutions involve:
1. Halting economic development completely and building nature reserves
(Issues include they are expensive it is hard to georestrict a species if the reserve is to small, and that it maximizes the negative impact outside of protected areas, there are also the costs involved to reduce poaching, the need for subsidizes to maintain the area which can fluctuate based on political will or funding to animal right organizations, and a stable nation not involved in civil war or with high poverty, which is a high bar to raise.

2. Integrating animals into society as a recreational device while providing an economic incentive
Here we see zoos, aquariums, circuses etc which in order to develop an economy need healthy skilled animals and by extension trainers in order to remain self-sufficient without a subsidy.
We can all adopt cats and kittens but will anyone logically adopt a full grown tiger cub or bear, besides Jasmine in Aladdin or Ranger Smith.

The question is how to add incentive's to animal preservation without government regulation or laws expensive enforcement and a means of security the animals are treated properly.

PETA ignores that in these cases and is just like OH Look this is trauma and abuse they should be wild and free even though they have been trained to be friendly to humans and would not stand a chance in the wild. Political correctness in this case is a lack of a culture poisoning the well, since the reality is we either have animals that we take care of through an economic incentive or leave them to true extinction as a consequence of human development in countries throughout the world.

So I propose that PETA should be the ones running the Zoos and animal sanctuaries so they can put their money where their mouth is.

I had never considered this, but goddamnit this seems like a good idea. I'm.moderate on regulation, but who better to kiss the animals asses than them? I'm not even mad at that, they love animals, fuck it, let's put that to use. They should provide the highest level of care due to their level of concern; and they get more than enough in private donations to keep everything going, it would take little fed/state subsidy to maintain.

You get a cookie. Hilariously sarcastic at the end, but fucking brilliant, man.

Haha, yeah, it was funny. Members in our country always have this smug attitude and a detachment from reality. Like when the only elephant left in a public zoo got a foot infection and they want her to be shipped to Thailand and retire there, forgetting how hard it would be to adapt to a new place where she don't know anyone, not to mention she's already an octogenarian and might be too frail for such a voyage.

It's really a complex issue. I'm not in favor of closing down zoos and sanctuaries. These are where the animals are bred to ensure there's always some to be available for release. It's also the place where we start teaching children about the importance of nature.

[freedomno1]

Who better to kiss the animals asses than them?

Exactly by having the Animal Lovers do it they can't complain and if they do PETA will have a meeting and be a PETA to themselves no one will even get mad because that's what their supposed to do.

Haha, yeah, it was funny. Members in our country always have this smug attitude and a detachment from reality. Like when the only elephant left in a public zoo got a foot infection and they want her to be shipped to Thailand and retire there, forgetting how hard it would be to adapt to a new place where she don't know anyone, not to mention she's already an octogenarian and might be too frail for such a voyage.

It's really a complex issue. I'm not in favor of closing down zoos and sanctuaries. These are where the animals are bred to ensure there's always some to be available for release. It's also the place where we start teaching children about the importance of nature.

Your right they really do need to consider the animals feelings with their current location or age into consideration.
I imagined an elephant on a boat and a small mouse and the elephant thinking this ain't Noah's Arc why do I need to get on this boat.

For some Public zoos and sanctuaries are the only ways people ever see wildlife in person and they serve a purpose of educating the public while creating awareness and sympathy for their plight from a young age. It's like interactive displays you can see them but when you experience it in real life that is entirely different.

Without real places to interact with them they might not even care since it's not near their problem further accelerating the animals demise, as that kid at the zoo who saw the chimpanzees dancing might well become the next Jane Goodall of environmental protectionism because they met with an animal and it changed something.

The real issue is changing the semantics and marketing around it and advertising a zoo for the 21st century.

Finding intelligent architects who can design a zoo that is PETA compatible and allows animals to co-exist move around and do whatever while not eating one another or harassing them, with just the right amount of makeup so that everyone feels good and pats themselves at the end of the day, you get to choose the animals the design pick the staff and resources for animal maintenance and care, while selling products to sustain the place oh wait that's Zoo Tycoon.

[TheCoinGrabber]

Who better to kiss the animals asses than them?

Exactly by having the Animal Lovers do it they can't complain and if they do PETA will have a meeting and be a PETA to themselves no one will even get mad because that's what their supposed to do.

Haha, yeah, it was funny. Members in our country always have this smug attitude and a detachment from reality. Like when the only elephant left in a public zoo got a foot infection and they want her to be shipped to Thailand and retire there, forgetting how hard it would be to adapt to a new place where she don't know anyone, not to mention she's already an octogenarian and might be too frail for such a voyage.

It's really a complex issue. I'm not in favor of closing down zoos and sanctuaries. These are where the animals are bred to ensure there's always some to be available for release. It's also the place where we start teaching children about the importance of nature.

Your right they really do need to consider the animals feelings with their current location or age into consideration.
I imagined an elephant on a boat and a small mouse and the elephant thinking this ain't Noah's Arc why do I need to get on this boat.

For some Public zoos and sanctuaries are the only ways people ever see wildlife in person and they serve a purpose of educating the public while creating awareness and sympathy for their plight from a young age. It's like interactive displays you can see them but when you experience it in real life that is entirely different.

Without real places to interact with them they might not even care since it's not near their problem further accelerating the animals demise, as that kid at the zoo who saw the chimpanzees dancing might well become the next Jane Goodall of environmental protectionism because they met with an animal and it changed something.

The real issue is changing the semantics and marketing around it and advertising a zoo for the 21st century.

Finding intelligent architects who can design a zoo that is PETA compatible and allows animals to co-exist move around and do whatever while not eating one another or harassing them, with just the right amount of makeup so that everyone feels good and pats themselves at the end of the day, you get to choose the animals the design pick the staff and resources for animal maintenance and care, while selling products to sustain the place oh wait that's Zoo Tycoon.

Elephants are very intelligent and social. They just won't warm up to everyone though, which is why Thai mahouts get an elephant that becomes their partner till either of them die. It's a lifelong relationship. I can't believe why people from an organization that claim they always have an animals best interest in mind did not thought of that.

And yes, zoos do need a way to stay afloat. Our own public zoos in our country are sorta getting quite dingy compared to private zoos.