Danish Government Pays $1.6M To Buy Last Remaining Circus Elephants For Retirement

Feb 04, 2020 by apost team

Elephants are among the most majestic animals in all of creation. With their massive size and big trunks, any child is able to instantly recognize an elephant. While today’s culture largely treats the species with the respect and admiration it deserves, past generations used often elephants for their own selfish needs.

During the 19th and parts of the early 20th Centuries, elephants were the target of big game hunters and poachers. The huge animals were also kept in tiny cages as stars of traveling circuses and zoos. In an effort to give elephants the care and attention they deserve, the government of Denmark recently purchased the last remaining circus elephants in the country.

International pressure has been building for the past several years to end the use of animals in traveling circuses. In the case of elephants, their placement in a traveling circus is cause for particular alarm. As they are such massive creatures, elephants require a large habitat to roam, something that cannot be provided by a traveling circus. In news first reported by the BBC, the Danish government paid $1.6 million for the last four remaining circus animals in the country. 

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Having purchased the animals, the Danish government recently saw to their happy retirement. The effort is being headed by Food and Fisheries Minister Mogens Jensen, who cares for the pachyderms through Animal Protection Denmark. In a written statement, Minister Jensen says that the country will soon be introducing legislation that will ban all wild animals from being used by traveling circuses, according to The Local dk.

The four Danish elephants are named Ramboline, Lara, Djunga, and Jenny. Three of the animals come from Circus Arena while the fourth comes from Circus Trapez. The foursome’s new home will be Knuthenborg Safari Park, where Danish officials assure the public that the elephants will live in the lap of luxury as they live out their last days in peace and quiet in a report from Elephant Group. 

Elephant populations dropped precipitously in 20th Century due to the ivory trade. While many populations are now stable, the species is still threatened by illegal poaching, habitat loss, and conflict with humans says the WWF.

As with Denmark, animal welfare has become a major issue for most nations in the last few years. Across the sea, the United Kingdom initiated its own law banning the use of wild animals in circuses last May, as mentioned by the Government of the UK's own website. Member of Parliament Michael Grove, in a strong show of support for the measure, said that animals have no place in traveling circuses in our modern times. Other countries that have similar laws on the books include Mexico, Peru, Costa Rica, and Austria.

What do you think of how the government of Denmark bought the last four remaining circus elephants in their country so that they can live out their retirement in peace and quiet? Tell your animal-loving friends all about this story and have them tell theirs about this development.