Circus Elephants

Circus Elephants

When one thinks of an elephant, it should be on the plains of Africa… not clad in tacky decorations under a tent full of hungry circus-goers. Yet this is the image many minds conjure at the word elephant. Sadly, behind the glitz and glamour of the circus, exists a cruelty equal to that of human slavery. Elephants are highly intelligent creatures and very human, yet they are treated as property. Captive elephants are whipped, stabbed, kicked, scalded… the list goes on and on. How can a creature, proven to possess emotions and cognitive abilities equal to that humans, be treated in such a manner? The many violations of humane rights of elephants can be seen in each aspect of circus elephants’ lives. Abuse occurs from the moment a baby elephant is captured, throughout transportation and training, during performances, and until the day the elephant dies an untimely death due to captivity. By first examining the uncanny similarities between humans and elephants, one is able to understand the effect of the inhumane treatment of elephants. The use of elephants in circuses is inhumane and should be illegal.

Extensive scientific research proves that elephants are uncannily similar to humans, both cognitively and behaviorally, and experience similar emotions. For example, in the wild elephants reside in herds, much like a family, led by the eldest female. (Vargas) Elephants are one of very few species that live in permanent family groups. (Meyer 14) Much like humans, herd members are affectionate toward one another through touch and speech. Baby elephants depend on their mothers for the first four years of their lives, but remain long after weaning to learn basic skills, including social and survival skills. (Meyer 14) One of the most remarkable behaviors exhibited by elephants is grief. When a herd member dies, fellow elephants gather to pay respects and often return days, months, and even years later to revisit the bones. (Vargas) Elephants also experience a broad spectrum of emotions including joy, fear, and helplessness. Unfortunately, the later two permeate every aspect of a circus elephant’s life.

To obtain an elephant, groups of hired men and circus employees hunt the plains of Africa for a herd. In what is known as a cull –the mass slaughter of an elephant family- the men extract a frightened and traumatized calf. (Vargas) During a cull, entire herds are wiped out while an infant stands by and watches the murder of its family. The newly orphaned calf experiences trauma displays exactly like those of humans: nightmares, screaming, inability to sleep, and sudden acts of violence. (Vargas) Gay Bradshaw, a lifetime elephant researcher, drew parallels of these behaviors to human Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. (Vargas) By diagnosing elephants with PTSD, Bradshaw has helped the world recognize that elephants are emotional and receptive creatures, exactly like humans. As Bradshaw asserts, “science says elephants are just like people-they feel like people, they think like people, they act like people, they have a sense of self like people-“ and we are compelled not to treat them as property. (Vargas-Bradshaw 1)

The next step on the road to a life of circus slavery is transportation. As if the elephants are not traumatized enough, they suffer harsh and inadequate transportation conditions. In the wild elephants walk an average of 25 kilometers per day foraging for food and water, accounting for about 18 hours of the day. (Meyer 14) Elephants in transportation endure thousands of miles of traveling per day, confined to a small crate for hours on end. The elephants become frustrated, stressed, and restless as a result of their lack of activity. This leads to abnormal behaviors such as excessive nodding, swaying, and rocking. Transportation also puts the elephants at risk of injury, especially from car wrecks or derailments. Such drastic negative effects are signs that elephants most certainly belong in the wild, where they are healthy and able to thrive.

The worst is yet to come for elephants. After being transported, elephants are thrown directly into training. Training occurs behind closed doors so the public does not discover the unimaginable abuses inflicted on the elephants. Trainers use crude tools such as bullhooks (sharp hooks), pitchforks, whips, sticks with nails, and electric shock devices to coerce elephants into obedience. When the elephants are not undergoing violent training tactics, they are chained and confined to small areas, where the most movement possible is a mere shuffle. Confinement causes “physical discomfort, behavioral stress… severe psychological harm…and interferes with their normal postural and social adjustments.” (Meyer 17) Trainers also routinely beat the elephants in order to gain psychological control. One testimony of a former elephant handler recounts the trials of an elephant named Sadie:

“Sadie just could not grasp what we were trying to show her. In frustration she attempted to run out of the ring. We brought her back and began to punish her for being so stupid. We stopped suddenly, and looked at each other, unable to speak. Sadie was crying like a human being. She lay there on her side, the tears streaming down her face and sobs racking her huge body.” (Animal Circus)

Sadie, like all circus elephants, will never know the joy of the Plains of Africa, nor the unbreakable bonds that exist between mother and daughter elephants. Instead, their lives are full of sorrow and pain, restriction and abuse.

The final leg of a circus elephants’ life is no leg at all… it is the remainder of their life. In addition to the horrors of extraction, transportation, and training, elephants suffer a life of humiliation. They are used solely for entertainment purposes and exploited for economic profit. Elephants are forced to stand on a colorful stage supported by one leg, balance a ball with their trunk, and appear excited. In reality, performances are both physically and mentally painful for elephants. Outside of the ring, elephants “appear sad and beaten down, devoid of their spirits, and extremely stressed.” (Meyer 8) Because elephants are so similar to humans, it makes no sense that society continues to treat them as property. Human slavery is outlawed and elephant slavery should be as well. There is no excuse for the demeaning and inhumane treatment of elephants. The act is completely selfish and immoral.

Elephants who suffer violent extraction from the wild, harsh transportation, abusive training, and demeaning performances are psychologically damaged and unstable. These elephants suffer the same traumatic responses as humans do, a fact that cannot be ignored. These human-like behaviors demand that elephants be treated with respect and left to live a full life in their natural habitats. There is no cure for the violence circus elephants suffer, but there is a cure for the practice itself: outlaw circus elephants.

Works Cited

Meyer, Katherine. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals v. Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. 1:03CV02006. US District Court for the District of Columbia. 2003. FindLaw. 28 April 2010.

Vargas, Elizabeth. “The Sanctuary.” Sixty Minutes 17 September 2008. http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/stories/634126/the-sanctuary Accessed 28 April 2010.

“Animal Circuses, Animal Suffering.” June 2001. www.captiveanimals.org/circuses/circus.htm Accessed 28 April 2010