America's Most Famous Circus Elephants Are Retiring to Florida

Read: The Ringling Bros Elephant Sanctuary Is Hardly a Paradise

The 145-year American spectacle of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus elephants performing for the public is finished now that the company has retired its elephants once and for all, as Reuters reports.

The last 11 performing elephants are being transported on Monday to the 200-acre Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida owned by Ringling, which seems pretty swanky, but may not be the elephant nirvana it appears on the surface.

Earlier this year, animal rights group PETA claimed in a 13-page document that elephants at the Florida compound are abused with electric prods and bullhooks, are "prone to arthritis, infection, and psychological stress," and show a significant risk of contracting tuberculosis while there.

"[It's] nothing more than a breeding facility, where elephants are chained for approximately sixteen hours a day or more in concrete-floored barns and still beaten with bullhooks," PETA spokeswoman Katie Arth told Reuters. "When they're allowed outside, they're confined to small, virtually barren paddocks."

In February, Stephen Payne, a spokesman for Ringling Bros' parent company, told VICE those allegations are bullshit. According to Payne, concrete floors aren't half bad, and bullhooks are akin to putting a leash on a dog.

Payne also told us skilled veterinarians consistently examine their health, and only one elephant has fallen ill with tuberculosis in the center's care. He also insisted the center's breeding program is vital to preserving North America's Asian elephants.

"We are working to save an endangered species," Payne said.

PETA's beef with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey over elephants may have reached its final chapter, but the Humane Society estimates about a dozen other circuses still use elephants. And Ringling will continue featuring lions, tigers, kangaroos, and other large animals in their performances.