Elephants may have been part of the circus for decades, ever since Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey began, but animal rights activists have accused the circus of cruelty. Now, the elephants will slowly begin disappearing from circus shows and are retiring to Florida, earlier than expected.
Feld Entertainment, which owns Ringling Bros., said in a statement today that all of their Asian elephants will be moved to the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida by May. There will be 42 elephants at the conservation.
As the Associated Press notes, Field initially said that the animals would be moved by 2018, but decided that they could do this at a much faster pace.
“They'll be joining the rest of the herd,” Alana Feld, whose family owns Feld, told the AP. She said that there are already 29 elephants on the conservation, which is located between Orlando and Tampa.
While elephants have been an iconic part of the American circus for over a century, there has been a backlash against exotic animals being forced to perform for audiences. Feld said that the circus is working on adapting to a new way of entertaining. The new show without the elephants will begin in July.