Cries From the Big Top: Meet the Elephant Victims of Shrine Circuses

The elephants used in Shrine circus shows today are victims of kidnapping. When they were babies in the 1960s and ’70s, poachers tore them from their families and homes in Asia. Animal dealers packed them into crates and sold the terrified baby elephants to whoever was willing to pay. They ended up in the hands of people who beat them, ignored their cries, and forced them to spend their lives performing. Find out how you can help these suffering elephants.

What Happens to Elephants Used by Shrine Circuses?

Elephants don’t choose to engage with humans; they are compelled by the constant threat of violence. To “train” baby elephants, “handlers” from Shrine circuses like Carson & Barnes Circus, Carden Circus, and Franzen Bros. Circus punished them with jabs from a bullhook—a sharp, steel-tipped weapon designed to sink into an elephant’s flesh and inflict pain to coerce compliance with commands.

In nature, female elephants spend their whole lives with their families. They live in matriarchal herds where they protect one another, forage for fresh vegetation, play, bathe in rivers, and share mothering responsibilities for the herds’ babies. But because of money to be made in the entertainment industry, humans force elephants into lifetimes of suffering and stress in front of noisy crowds and deprive them of everything that’s natural and important to them.

How PETA Is Helping Elephants Forced to Perform

After hearing from PETA and thousands of compassionate supporters, several Shrine circuses have stopped exploiting elephants. The Hadi Shrine Circus in Indiana and the Moolah Shrine Circus in Missouri both committed to no longer use elephants, and Carden Circus, one of the most prolific Shrine circus producers, has reportedly stopped using elephants in its circus performances.

The best places for these victims are accredited elephant sanctuaries, where they can spend the rest of their lives in peace. But the elephants formerly exploited by Carden Circus haven’t been relocated to a reputable sanctuary. Instead, they are trapped at a roadside zoo in Indiana called Wilstem Wildlife Park. Wilstem uses them in stressful hands-on encounters and photo ops with the public.

Meet the Elephants Who Are Forced to Perform in Shrine Circuses

Stolen from their herds as infants, these now-elderly female elephants have spent their lives knowing nothing but fear and misery because of circuses’ greed. Instead of enjoying their golden years free of abuse at accredited sanctuaries, they are still forced to perform, endure screaming audiences, and spend days in transport all for human entertainment.

Viola

Age: ~56
Capture location: Asia (country unknown)
Current exhibitor: Carson & Barnes Circus
Recent Shrine circus appearances: 20+

Carson & Barnes Circus’ head abuser was caught on camera instructing other handlers to sink bullhooks into elephants’ flesh to “make ’em scream.”

A 2021 PETA investigation found Viola suffering from swollen feet, and she showed signs of painful foot or joint disease—conditions that doubtlessly made her miserable and which can be deadly to elephants.

Viola has also escaped from her abusers at least four times, including once in April 2024 in Montana. On at least two occasions, she was injured as she fled through the streets, including once when she escaped the Moolah Shrine Circus in Missouri. In January 2023, that circus stopped using elephants.

Viola is currently being forced to tour with Jordan World Circus, which produces a high number of Shrine circus shows.

Kelly

Age: ~56
Capture location: Asia (country unknown)
Current exhibitor: Carson & Barnes Circus
Recent Shrine circus appearances: 9+

Kelly’s desire to flee the Shrine circuses’ imprisonment has been made clear by her repeated escape attempts from the abusers at Carson & Barnes—but she’s always captured and brought back.

In addition to being freed by Isla, Kelly also made one of her desperate bids for freedom when she became overwhelmed by the pandemonium of the crowd at a Moolah Shrine Circus show. She suffered abrasions and lacerations to her side as she bolted through the streets of St. Charles, Missouri, frantically searching for safety.

Lulu

Age: ~51
Capture location: India
Current exhibitor: Carson & Barnes Circus
Recent Shrine circus appearances: 11+

Lulu has endured nearly 30 years of abuse from Carson & Barnes—including hitting, whipping, and verbal assault.

When they’re not traveling, Carson & Barnes keeps Lulu and other elephants at the deceptively named Endangered Ark Foundation, a roadside zoo in Oklahoma that operates under the same exhibitor’s license as the circus.

Workers at Endangered Ark Foundation chain elephants and use them for all sorts of encounters with visitors—things an accredited sanctuary would never do.

Many roadside zoos and breeding facilities market their animal prisons as “sanctuaries” or “rescues.” They claim to support species conservation in order to attract customers. Don’t fall victim to these deceptive ploys. Asking a few simple questions can usually help you determine whether a facility is helping or exploiting animals.

PETA Is Pushing for Progress at Shrine Circuses—But Elephants Need Your Help Now!

Tell Shriners International what you think about the abuse of animals for its chapters’ circuses:

Tell Shrine Circuses: Stop Exploiting Animals!