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

Ringling Bros. circus
Sarah Eberspacher
By
published
(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))

Sarah Eberspacher
Sarah Eberspacher

Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

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