The sublime nobility of the circus elephant
Take a look back at the gentle giants who have spent more than a century under the big top
(Image credit: (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS))
(Image credit: (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS) For more than a century, Jumbo and his fellow circus elephants dazzled crowds with their performances, dancing around the ring in rows, lifting showgirls hi)
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Matty Zimmerman))
(Image credit: (Owen Franken/Corbis) There was a darker side to the family-friendly shows, too. Animal rights groups have for years voiced concerns and mounted evidence that elephants from various)
(Image credit: (AP Photo))
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara))
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Virginian-Pilot, L Todd Spencer) Of course, there are plenty of other circuses, both in America and beyond (Russia, France, and Thailand, to name just a few countries), where elepha)
(Image credit: (Angelika Warmuth/dpa/Corbis))
(Image credit: (Jonathan Blair/Corbis))
(Image credit: (Gaetan Luci/ Palais Princier/ Pool Cardinale/ Corbis/People)For Ringling Bros. elephants, at least, its time for a much-deserved retirement. The lumbering creatures will, over the next three)
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara))
(Image credit: (Pendygraft, John/ZUMA Press/Corbis))
(Image credit: (AP Photo/John Raoux))
(Image credit: (Pendygraft, John/ZUMA Press/Corbis))
