PETA Calls On Feds to Deny Ringling a Permit to Import Tigers, Leopard Through Miami

Circus's History of Beating Big Cats Disqualifies It for Exception to Endangered Species Act, Says Group

For Immediate Release:

August 8, 2011

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Miami — PETA has submitted formal comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) calling on the agency to deny an application by Feld Entertainment, Inc., parent company of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, to import eight tigers and an African leopard through Miami from Europe. Although the Endangered Species Act (ESA) protects tigers and prohibits the importation of endangered species, it does allow for exceptions in limited circumstances, such as for scientific purposes or to enhance the survival of the affected species. Ringling claims to qualify for the latter exception, but experts disagree. PETA has amassed extensive video footage and other evidence showing that Ringling routinely beats tigers and other endangered animals in order to force them to perform and that it otherwise abuses and neglects these animals in flagrant violation of the ESA.

"The whips that Ringling uses to force tigers to perform unnatural and meaningless tricks can't qualify as educational tools," says PETA Director Delcianna Winders. "The Endangered Species Act was created to protect animals from precisely the kind of abuse and exploitation that they are subjected to every day in the circus."

The following are just a few of the points covered in PETA's comments:

• In September 2010 on separate occasions, inspectors in Sacramento observed tigers in cages without water, food, or enrichment of any kind.
• During a 2009 PETA undercover investigation, a Ringling trainer was videotaped beating tigers during dress rehearsals. The video footage was included in PETA's comments, and the incident is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
• According to Ringling's permit application, four tigers have died in the past five years as a result of the company's activities.
• Since 1991, the USDA has cited Ringling for 27 violations of the Animal Welfare Act with respect to the care of big cats, including for allowing a 2-year-old lion, Clyde, to bake to death in a boxcar as the train crossed the Mojave Desert and for shooting a caged tiger five times with a 12-gauge shotgun.

PETA's comments to the Fish and Wildlife Service are available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA's website RinglingBeatsAnimals.com.