Star Treatment For Circus Animals (NAPSA)—When it comes to elephants, circus fans are all ears. These surprising facts about elephants, and their animal colleagues at a typical circus may stay in your memorya long time. Long, by the way, is the lifespan of a circus elephant...generally 62 to 70 years. That’s even longer than most zoo elephants. Some think this is because of the activity and mental simulation of performing. Experts on animals also believe the elephants appreciate the attention and exercise performing brings. What’s the weekly shoppinglist at a major circus? For the 200 animals at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey it’s: eighteen tons of hay; three tons of oats and sweet-feed; five tons of carrots, apples and lettuce; one-and-a-half tons of specially mixed elephant food; 425 whole loaves of bread; and a ton of fresh meat. Caring and feeding for the animals at The Greatest Show On Earth may bea lot of work, butit is a job Ringling Bros. has been doing for 132 years. The animals there are cared for by experts who work, live, sleep, and play with the animals 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Performing animals are trained by watching what they do naturally and then rewarding them. “The animals make up their own movements,” says John Kirtland, the circus’s executive director of Elephants not only have a long memory, they have a long lifespan...generally 62 to 70 years. animal stewardship. “We adapt their routines from behaviors they do naturally.” Interestingly, animals travel in their own custom-made, temperature-controlled train cars and are cared for by a full-time veterinary staff. Each unit of the circus has its own veterinary technician and the circus has a network of 90 local veterinarians whoare oncall. The animal care facility is called the animal open house and is set up outside. It is open to the public wherever possible. It’s a nice place to take kids who love animals. Note to Editors—second in a series offour.
