Thousands of wild animals all over the world are still forced to perform humiliating and unnatural tricks to entertain people. They are exploited in circuses, zoos and other forms of entertainment, such as films and TV shows.
Animals are trained so that they would perform tricks and imitate human-like behaviour, which is in no way typical to them in the nature. Bears riding bikes, elephants standing on back legs, smoking chimpanzees and tigers jumping througt rings of fire are just some examples.
The training of wild animals means that trainers physically dominate over the animals, evoking fear in them in order to keep the animals constantly focused and obedient in front of the public and cameras. Many footages captured using hidden cameras as well as evidence provided by former trainers clearly indicate that animals are suffering systematic abuse.
Circus animals are regularly transported in narrow, cramped trucks where they are chained, spending there many hours and travelling long distances. When they arrive to a new circus, the conditions are not much better: there too they are chained in a small area or a cage without a chance to move freely. Studies show that the prolonged transporting and confinement in a small and inappropriate space causes high levels of stress, thus leaving a negative impact on animals’ health. Training, boredom and psychological suffering, which occurs when animals try to deal with the unnatural conditions, are the causes of stereotypical behaviour of behaviour which is not typical for the particular species:
- Pacing and circling
- Tongue-playing and bar-biting
- Neck twisting
- Head bobbing, weaving and swaying
- Rocking
- Overgrooming and self mutilation
- Vomiting and regurgitating
- Playing with and eating of excrement
Exploiting animals in circuses is an obsolete and unacceptable practice. Circus deforms the actual nature of animals, forces them to live an unnatural life full of suffering and reduces the level of respect that the society has towards animals.