What is wrong with a circus trick?

In order for a circus act to be performed, animals are held in captivity. Take the largest mammal on the planet. In the wild, an elephant is capable of traveling a distance of 80 kilometers a day and has a lifespan of around 70 years. In captivity, their average lifespan is reduced to one third of that. Because no animal including elephants will perform a circus act naturally, the learning experience they are exposed to is anything but a process of sophisticated persuasion.

The elephant hook (ankus), is a heavy, clublike instrument with a sharp tip used for the handling of an elephant. Elephants are jabbed with that sharp hook to make them obey. If in the wrong hands, such an instrument can inflict nasty wounds on the upper ear, forehead or trunk. The idea of breaking the natural instinct of an animal is in itself unnatural and cruel. Standing on their hind legs is a position that grown up elephants, particularly female ones, do not seem to be comfortable in.

The naïve spectator of a circus act will be excluded from the circumstances surrounding the training of circus animals. Even some animal-lovers mistakenly believe that animals in circuses enjoy the atmosphere and the attention given to them and that they are loved, properly looked after and respected by their trainers. A glossy picture masking a sinister reality.