circus

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Circus Elephant Injured ... in Drive-by Shooting

'Carol' is OK after getting hit with bullet in Tupelo, Mississippi

(Newser) - Even animal-rights activists who hate the circus couldn't have dreamed up this potential pitfall: An elephant with Ringling Bros. was wounded overnight in a drive-by shooting in Tupelo, Mississippi, reports the Clarion-Ledger . The good news is that "Carol," who was in an outdoor enclosure at the time,...

Freezing Elephants 'Saved' by Vodka

After trailer catches fire in Siberia, Russia's favorite drink keeps them warm

(Newser) - Sometimes you really need a drink. One of those times: When your truck has caught fire and you're standing by the side of a Siberian highway in freezing weather with frostbite setting in. That's the predicament a pair of Indian elephants found themselves in, and their quick-thinking handlers...

Ringling Pays $270K Animal Welfare Fine

Circus mistreated elephants and tigers, feds say

(Newser) - The Ringling Brothers circus—without admitting wrongdoing—has paid $270,000 to settle federal accusations that it mistreated elephants, tigers, zebras, and other exotic animals. Federal inspectors found that a sick elephant was forced to perform, elephants' faces were cut by sharp edges in transport trailers, big cats were kept...

Worker Caught Beating Circus Elephant

Annie whacked repeatedly by cruel minder

(Newser) - A British circus worker has been filmed repeatedly kicking and slamming a docile elephant with a pitchfork in her face and body as she was chained in her enclosure. The film of 57-year-old Asian elephant Annie was taken by Animal Defenders International and has triggered a joint investigation by local...

China Bans Animal Circuses
 China Bans Animal Circuses 
Jan 19, 2011 1:59 AM CST

China Bans Animal Circuses

And no more monkey meat on the human menus at zoos

(Newser) - Monkey-fighting is off the agenda and monkey meat is off the menu at zoos and circuses in China. An animal welfare law taking effect this month bans animal performances at zoos and other attractions, and bans zoos from serving dishes made from rare animals, the Telegraph reports. Wildlife parks will...

Half-Naked Acrobats Shake Up Staid Vatican

Benedict looks especially uncomfortable

(Newser) - The Vatican's normally a pretty staid place, lined with pure thoughts and celibate clergymen, so more than a few eyebrows raised when four buff guys lined up in front of Pope Benedict himself and ripped their shirts off. The four were actually acrobats, known as the Pilgrim Brothers, who proceeded...

Circus Lion Attack Caught on Tape

Trainer currently in stable condition

(Newser) - An American family got a lot more than it bargained for at a Ukraine circus last weekend, when a lion attacked its trainer—and the family got it all on video. First one lion, then another, lunges and bites the trainer as other circus workers hose down the animals to...

Runaway Elephant Goes Swimming, Shopping

Footloose pachyderm tours downtown Zurich

(Newser) - An escaped elephant went on a tour of downtown Zurich yesterday evening, spending an hour on the loose before police apprehended her. Sabu, a 26-year-old female from the Swiss national circus, cooled off in Lake Zurich before roaming the streets of the business district and doing a little window-shopping on...

Russian Chimp Goes to Rehab
 Russian Chimp Goes to Rehab 
too much booze, smoking
Feb 26, 2010 11:34 AM CST

Russian Chimp Goes to Rehab

Zhora got addicted to cigarettes, beer

(Newser) - Don’t feel bad, Amy Winehouse: Even apes have to go to rehab sometimes. At least one Russian chimpanzee did, if a Reuters report is to be believed. According to a Russian newspaper, Zhora got aggressive at his first home—a circus—before being sent to a zoo, where he...

Trainee Hypnotizes Himself
 Trainee Hypnotizes Himself  
Jan 7, 2010 4:22 AM CST

Trainee Hypnotizes Himself

Wife finds hapless circus performer in trance

(Newser) - A stage performer's hypnosis textbook apparently forgot to mention that practicing on yourself is a bad idea. Helmut Kichmeier—stage name Hannibal Helmurto—was found by his wife standing in front of a mirror in a zombie-like trance with an open book on hypnosis by his side. She called his...

Judge Sides With Circus in Elephant Cruelty Case

Judge says plaintiff wasn't credible

(Newser) - A judge threw out an elephant abuse lawsuit against Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, saying the plaintiff, former Ringling employee Tom Rider, hadn’t demonstrated a close enough attachment to the animals. Rider and the Animal Protection Institute had argued that circus practices like using bull hooks on elephants...

PETA Releases Video of Circus Elephant Abuse

(Newser) - PETA has released video it says shows cruelty to circus elephants, the Orange County Register reports. The tape shows Ringling Bros. handlers swatting elephants with “bull hooks,” and one pachyderm exhibiting signs of “severe psychological distress.” “This video again shows what we have been saying...

Feuding Senate Has NY State Seeing Double

'Farcical' legislators make mayhem; gov blasts proceedings

(Newser) - New York got two state senates for the price of one yesterday as lawmakers held side-by-side sessions, with each party passing its own bills, the New York Times reports. Dems got to the chamber first and locked out Republicans. When the GOP was finally allowed in, members were barred from...

NYC Weighs Ban on Circus Elephants

(Newser) - The circus is in town, and in a related development, the New York City Council is considering a ban on the display of "wild or exotic animals" for entertainment, the Times reports. The bill, understood to be aimed at the Ringling Brothers pachyderms, has the support of almost half...

Britney Cracks Whip in Circus
 Britney Cracks Whip in Circus 
OPINION
Mar 4, 2009 3:31 AM CST

Britney Cracks Whip in Circus

Big Top performance in Big Easy launches singer's first tour in 5 years

(Newser) - "Don't call it a comeback quite yet," warns Chuck Arnold in People as Britney Spears bumped and grinded her way back into fans' hearts last night during the New Orleans launch of her first concert tour in five years. And though neither her voice, moves, or physique...

PETA President Wills Body to Group
PETA President
Wills Body
to Group
Feb 23, 2009 3:35 PM CST

PETA President Wills Body to Group

Newkirk suggests her flesh be barbecued, skin made into purse

(Newser) - The president of PETA has written a will donating her body to the organization along with suggestions about how best to use various body parts, TreeHugger reports. First on the list is the request that her “meat” be used as “human barbecue,” to remind the world “...

Circus Elephant Abuse Case Hits Court

Animal rights groups allege circus group engages in jumbo-sized cruelty

(Newser) - The nation's circus elephants finally have their day in court, reports the Washington Post. Animal rights groups who accuse circuses of mistreating their elephants have battled for eight years to bring a case against Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. In opening arguments in Washington DC district court yesterday, an...

Camels Walk a Mile for Escape-Artist Giraffe

Circus chain gang cuts loose in Amsterdam

(Newser) - Fifteen camels, two zebras, lamas and potbellied swine went on the lam from a Dutch circus—with a giraffe masterminding their flight to freedom. The gang wandered around an Amsterdam neighborhood when the escape artist kicked a hole in the animals' cage, reports AP. They were all rounded up after...

Circus Elephant Elopes With Wild Suitor

Escape from Indian pen makes for mammoth romance

(Newser) - In perhaps the heaviest love story ever told, a wild bull elephant broke into a traveling circus in India and snatched away a tame but captivated female. Wildlife experts say the male was probably in must when he broke a gate to free his beloved; three other elephants also escaped,...

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