Raw: Final Ringling Bros. Elephants Performance

(2 May 2016) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus054553 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus bid farewell to its performing elephants on Sunday, as the show closed its own chapter on a practice that has entertained audiences in America for two centuries but has come under fire by animal rights activists. The crowd cheered as six Asian elephants entered the arena to perform in an act that had them dancing, balancing on each others' backs, sitting on their hind legs and pretending to sleep. After Sunday's performance, the animals will live at Ringling's 200-acre Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida, said Alana Feld, executive vice president of Feld Entertainment, which owns the circus. Its herd of 40 Asian elephants, the largest in North America, will continue a breeding program and be used in a pediatric cancer research project. Find out more about AP Archive:
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