Retired Circus Elephants to Move to 2,500-Acre Wildlife Refuge Next Year
Since 2016, about 30 elephants have lived in a 200-acre enclosure managed by Ringling Bros. circus
Elephants Kelly Ann and Mable are eligible to move to the White Oak Conservation Center north of Jacksonville, Florida. (Courtesy of White Oak Conservation Center )
By Theresa Machemer
SMITHSONIANMAG.COM
SEPTEMBER 28, 2020
SMARTNEWS Keeping you current
Retired Circus Elephants to Move to 2,500-Acre Wildlife Refuge Next Year
Since 2016, about 30 elephants have lived in a 200-acre enclosure managed by Ringling Bros. circus
A close up of two elephants with their trunks touching
Elephants Kelly Ann and Mable are eligible to move to the White Oak Conservation Center north of Jacksonville, Florida. (Courtesy of White Oak Conservation Center )
By Theresa Machemer
SMITHSONIANMAG.COM
SEPTEMBER 28, 2020
About 30 Asian elephants previously used in Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performances will move to the White Oak Conservation Center in Florida next year. The conservation center is committing 2,500 acres of its over 17,000-acre property as the elephants’ new home, and expects the first elephants to arrive next year, the Associated Press reports.
Feld Entertainment, which owns the circuses, committed to phasing out elephant performances in 2015, and officially retired the last of its elephants in 2016, Oliver Whang reports for National Geographic. Since then, the elephants have lived at the Ringling Bros.’ 200-acre Center for Elephant Conservation. When Reuters’ Barbara Goldberg described conditions at the center in 2016, the elephants were chained at night to prevent them from stealing each other’s food.
The White Oak Conservation Center announced its purchase of 35 retired circus elephants on September 23. Some of the elephants won’t be able to move to the wildlife refuge because of age or medical conditions—one is 74 years old, and another is blind, so they will probably stay behind, Teresa Stepzinski reports for First Coast News. But White Oak will take over caretaking of the elephants at the Center for Elephant Conservation.
White Oak’s elephant enclosure is about four square miles of wetlands, meadows and woods that will provide a variety of landscapes for the animals to choose from. The space will have 11 watering holes that are large enough for the elephants to wade in, as well as three barns stocked with veterinary equipment to meet the elephants’ needs.
More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/retired-circus-elephants-move-2500-acre-wildlife-refuge-next-year-180975921/
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