WILD ANIMALS IN CIRCUS
Training
The tricks the animals learn can be uncomfortable, and psychologically distressing which can lead to damage of muscles and bones. For example, tigers and lions are forced to jump through rings of fire, elephants are forced to stand on their hind legs, and apes are forced to ride motorcycles (Nance, 2013).
Elephants can not naturally walk on a tight rope, yet many people accept these activities as harmless entertainment.
The tricks that animals perform are unnatural behaviours and are only performed with specific training and persuasion. Animals suffer great stress when they are not able to adapt to specific training techniques, but circuses still use abusive training methods (Nance, 2013). Animals are taken from their natural habitat, transported to a location that is not suitable for them, and begin training when they are young (Kiley-Worthington, 1990). The training and performance of the animal is prominent when it comes to speaking of the economic values of the circus. If the animals are not performing well, there is a high chance that people will not pay to watch, leading to a decline in profit. Therefore, training becomes essential and when animals do not obey commands, it leads to persuasive methods to improve the animal’s performance.
Negative Reinforcement
Training which is based on reward (positive reinforcement) enhances not only the health of the animal but also the reproductive potential of captive animals. (Desmond & Laule, 1994). However, animals in the circus are often trained using negative reinforcement or punishment by inflicting pain, for example beating the animal. Negative reinforcement leads to poor welfare for these animals and also causes a bad relationship between the animal and trainer (Siemoneit- Barum 1995). When it comes to training large animals, the trainers must be the most careful as this can be a dangerous task. It is the training that is wrong and leads to the death of trainers, not that the species is untrainable (Kiley-Worthington, 1990).
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Instruments Used
The instruments that are used to tame the animals are whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods, ropes & chains and bull hooks. The most commonly used are ropes and bull hooks since they work the best to tame elephants. Ropes are used to tie legs of the elephants to force them to lie down. Bull hooks are a long stick with a sharp hooked end, they are mostly used to hit elephants into submission which involves prodding the animal very deep into the skin (ISPCA 2016). This causes them pain and forces the elephants to perform certain behaviour that they do not want to do. Trainers embed the hook either behind the ear, inside the mouth, and in tender spots on the trunk. Some bull hooks have the ability to deliver an electrical current because one end has hidden prongs (Bradshaw, 2007).