35 Circus Elephants Arrive in Amazing Florida Sanctuary to Retire Among Forest, Grassland, and 11 Watering Holes
White Oak Conservation
Some kids dream of running away to join the circus while the Ringling Bros. elephants that had been performing every night might have been dreaming about a place like this, a dream that is now coming true.
35 Asian pachyderms formerly under the care of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus are being welcomed to a 2500-acre Florida reserve where they can wander among their favorite habitats wetlands, grasslands, or forest and splash about in 11 different waterholes.
The White Oak Conservation refuge, located in Yulee, was set up to accommodate the about-to-be retired elephants in what will become the largest herd of Asian elephants in the Western Hemisphere.
Former circus elephants just arrived at a new sanctuary. They are swimming and grazing on fruit buffets. Cathy Free Former Ringling Bros. circus elephants began arriving at the White Oak Conservation center in April. (Stephanie Rutan/White Oak Conservation) For about two decades, elephants that performed with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus were sent to a reserve in central Florida when they became too old to balance on two legs and parade around arenas doing tricks and dancing for large crowds. Animal rights’ groups have long called the breeding farm and retirement refuge problematic. It is owned by the parent group of the now-closed circus, and there have been reports of elephants being chained in concrete enclosures and some having foot and leg problems.
EIB High Note: Elephants!
May 6, 2021
JASON: We end every show on what we call the EIB High Note, a piece of positive news dedicated to Rush’s optimism, which he had so much of. For today’s High Note, retirement is looking good for some former circus elements thanks to a new habitat at Florida’s White Oak Conservation Center. The retirees are from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus where elephants played a central role for most of its 146-year history.
In 2016, they retired the act. The elephants were moved to a small preserve south of Orlando which really wasn’t ideal. So a nonprofit group called the Walter Conservation stepped in and created a new habitat and now the elephants (chuckles) are living their best life with plenty of room to roam and splash around, you name it. Here is Michelle Gadd and Nick Newby two people who are very, very close to the product and what they have to say about it.
Retired circus elephants get new home with plenty of room to roam 989thevibe.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from 989thevibe.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Updated: 11:32 AM CDT May 7, 2021 By David Williams, CNN Video above: Adorable Elephants Enjoy a Snow DayAfter years of entertaining fans under the big top and a few years in retirement a herd of former circus elephants is settling into their new home at a wildlife refuge in Central Florida.The 12 female Asian elephants arrived at White Oak Conservation, outside Jacksonville, Florida, recently and were released into a forest habitat with pine trees, ponds, wetlands and open grasslands, according to an announcement from the refuge.The elephants range from 8- to 38-years-old and had previously belonged to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.They were all born in the United States and never lived in the wild, said Michelle Gadd, the chief of conservation for the Walter family, which owns White Oak Conservation and bought the animals from the circus. They are doing amazingly well. I am very surprised at how quickly they adapted to the environment, how readily they we