In a training profession that doesn't consider "cute and charming" as anything other then eye candy, not only must you be talented, you must have equally talented animals. When you win against your peers, judged by a rigid standard, it doesn't matter who you know, who your family or friends are, or how good you think you are. Circus "championship competitions" should try it for a while. Who know's the craft/art may return one day to it's former greatness. What do we have to lose? Where has the current path taken us? Maybe we could then compete for something other then an imitation gold clown. Something more along the lines of a couple of million dollars.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The Bill Horn Shoot Out 2008
Gunnatrashya
At more than $3 million, Shawn Flarida is the top earner in the National Reining Horse Association. However, if you ask him who the best reining rider is, he doesn’t hesitate to answer: Bill Horn. “The man is a legend,” the Springfield, Ohio, trainer said. “There’s no one out there better than BH.” Bill, however, feels much the same way about Shawn. Though the 71-year-old is still showing, it was to Shawn Bill sent a promising stallion out of his mare Natrasha who is by Bill’s legendary stallion Trashadeous. “He told me that this horse reminded him a lot of ‘Trash,’” Shawn said of Gunnatrashya, who later sold to Arcese Quarter Horses. “I was too young and I never got a chance to ride Trash, but I got to watch him a lot and I was in awe of him.” Although Gunnatrashya is by Colonels Smoking Gun, aka “Gunner,” he didn’t inherit his father’s big bald face or blue eyes. Instead he is almost a mirror image of Trash. And that’s not all he has in common with his granddaddy. “This horse is such an athlete and Bill says he is so much like Trash in the way he moves and performs,” Shawn said. So much so that during the prelims for the 2009 All American Quarter Horse Congress Reining Futurity, the stallion rolled back so hard he left Shawn, causing Bill to give the younger trainer a seatbelt. “It’s an inside joke,” Shawn said with a laugh. “Bill said Trash used to do that all the time. Said when he trained Trash at home, he wore a seatbelt.” Shawn said he just might have to wear the seatbelt because of Gunnatrashya’s astonishing abilities. “He’s is not a very big horse but he’s got a lot of try and he’s such an athlete. He can do stuff that is so amazing. When those horses are good like that you just hope they do good.” And that’s just what happened. On October 8, Gunnatrashya and Shawn came into the Congress Reining Futurity finals and won it with a 225.5. It was Shawn’s eighth Congress Futurity championship. He was also reserve on Whizkey N Diamonds with a 222. “He’s just a phenomenal horse,” Shawn said of Gunnatrashya. “He ran his circles to the left at a good fast speed. When he slowed down, though, I would have liked to have seen him slow down just a little bit more. His turns to the left though were probably harder than any horse I’ve ever rode. He’s really, really good there. He’s a superstar at turning. His circles to the right were good. His stops are incredible. He goes into the ground and it’s like he has another move and he just gets so deep.” Also riding in the finals was Bill on Nu Chex To Trash, who is also out of Natrasha. It was the first big show for Bill since he’d had surgery last year and nearly died. Marking a 216, the NRHA Hall of Famer got a standing ovation from the crowd as he rode out of the arena. “It was so cool seeing him out there,” Shawn said of Bill. “I look up to him so much. I just hope I can be half the rider he is someday.”
In the circus wild animal training profession the trainer gives himself credit, and his animals are only great because he/she is. Mary Ann Howell and others know how I feel about animals like my Karma was. Below are the words of two great reining trainers who were/are a part of Gunnatrashya's life. Note how much credit they take for his greatness.
Shawn Flarida and Gunnatrashya as close to perfect as you will ever see!!!!
Accepting that "nothing is perfect" the video above is a close to perfect as you will ever get. The video above is of Shawn Flarida and Gunnatrashya, the 2009 NRHA Open Futurity Champions. Watch closely at Gunnatrashya as he goes from 0 to 60 and back to 0 with a softness that is incredible. Watch closely at his amazing quick, fast feet and how he uses every muscle in his body with ease. Watch closely at his fast big, slow small circles and his rollbacks. Note how he stay's in his tracks perfectly. I am reminded of the words of the Neil Diamond hit, Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show, "he starts out soft and low, like a small earthquake, then when he let's go, half the valley shakes." An incredible animal is Gunnatrashya!!!!!! Below is a still montage of his performance at the Futurity. Greatness can only be achieved when you compete against a rigid standard, apples to apples.
Vintage Josip Marcan
This photo above, brilliantly illustrates the caliber and competitive world of wild animal acts in the mid 70's through the 80's. A world light years away from the world today. Any historian who want's to truly document the world of true wild animal training at it's greatest peak and greatness need's only concentrate his effort's on that time period.
Vintage Josip Marcan
As we can see in the photo's above, the good doctor's "equitation" skill's improved greatly from this very vintage photo. Boy, you talk about a monkey f**king a football!!!!!!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Valencia: two elephants and a jaguar circus seized by the courts.
The High Court of Valencia has recently ordered the seizure of two elephants and a jaguar, "mascots" for years of Jean Richard Pinder Circus, deemed illegal, it was learned Wednesday from a judicial source.
This seizure was ordered January 29 on the grounds of "unlawful employment at an institution of non-domestic animals", "improper use of non-domestic animals" and "lack of certificates of competency" for the reception of said animals , the source said, that the facility has been sentenced to 6,000 euros fine.
Edlestein Gilbert, owner and manager of the circus, disputed the reasons for the seizure and appealed the decision, including the "default certificates.
Judicial sources, on Wednesday indicated that the animals were in fact always the circus. The Parisian lawyer of Jean Richard Pinder Circus, Mr. Alain Deboucholy, was unavailable Wednesday afternoon.
Mr. Edlestein, also president of the union's national circus, expressed its determination to oppose the seizure of his animals "known to the whole France.
"Both Pinder circus elephants are the mascots of the circus for 25 years," he told AFP before challenging the associations that have made civil parties in this case, assistance animals and 30 million 'friends.
Elephant calf named Barack pulled from circus lineup.
Asian elephant Barack is the first to be born as a result of artifical insemination at Ringling's Center for Elephant Conservation in Polk City. The photo was taken shortly after his birth in January 2009. The calf has contracted a potentially deadly herpes virus and is undergoing treatment. (PHOTO COURTESY OF FELD ENTERTAINMENT)
The first Asian elephant born as a result of artificial insemination at a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus facility has been pulled from the circus lineup after he became infected with a potentially deadly herpes virus.
The 1-year-old calf, Barack, is being treated for elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV), a disease that has killed several Asian elephants in zoos across the continent in the past three decades. He and his mother were taken off the traveling unit two weeks ago and sent to Ringling's Center for Elephant Conservation in Polk City, about 40 miles southwest of Orlando. The duo had made a brief appearance at the Orlando Amway Arena last month during the circus' "Greatest Show on Earth."
Barack is expected to survive, said veterinarian Dennis Schmitt, chairman of veterinary services and director of research for Ringling. The calf, named for the president because he was born on the eve of Barack Obama's inauguration, did not show most symptoms, which include a bruised tongue, lethargy, and swollen head and neck. Trainers noticed, however, he had not been as active as usual.
"We're cautiously optimistic that he'll continue to progress," Schmitt said.
Little is known about the elephant herpes virus. Since 1977, at least 30 acute cases have been reported in North America, and most of them involved elephants younger than 7 years old, according to researchers at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington. About a third of those elephants survived after receiving the antiviral drug famciclovir, which is used to treat the virus in humans. However, EEVH only affects elephants and has not been linked to humans.
Barack is the second elephant to have contracted the virus at a Ringling facility. The calf's father, Doc, had been diagnosed with it several years ago and survived, circus officials said. The two cases are not related.
During his first appearances to the public a few weeks ago, Barack walked out into the ring with his mother close behind. The youngest elephant to perform for Ringling, Barack stepped up on a pedestal and saluted the audience by lifting his trunk. The elephant is only the fourth calf in the country to be conceived and born through artificial insemination.
"He also is a rare second generation, since both his parents were born into the program at the Ringling Bros. [conservation center]," said Amy McWethy, a spokeswoman for Ringling's parent company, Feld Entertainment.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed a complaint this week with the U.S. Department of Agriculture after the group was alerted about Barack's contracting the virus. It's the second complaint PETA has filed against Ringling in the past two months. In the previous complaint, PETA said that trainers tortured young elephants using "barbaric" tools such as bull hooks and electrical-shock devices to teach them circus tricks.
USDA officials inspected the facility after the first complaint and did not find any violations, agency spokesman Dave Sacks said. The two complaints are unrelated.
In the most recent complaint, Debbie Leahy, a director for PETA, said the baby elephant had been "stressed" after trainers with bull hooks surrounded him during a circus performance. She said the stress weakened Barack's immune system and made him vulnerable to the virus.
"It [the virus] has hit a number of zoos very hard. ... It's extremely serious," Leahy told an Orlando Sentinel reporter, adding: "It's pretty deadly and kills them quickly."
Researchers, however, don't know how the disease spreads and whether stress is related to the herpes virus. They also don't know why some elephants die and others survive, Schmitt said.
Barack is active and gaining a healthy 2 to 4 pounds a day, McWethy said. He could return to the ring in two or three months. She said it's "a remarkable testament" that Ringling staff were able to quickly diagnose and treat him.
"The fact that Barack is responding well is a celebration for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey," she said.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
The "Circus Superstar" With The Foul-Smelling Menagerie--"Can you believe this????"
While Caroline Wedding has only been running the Marion County Humane Society for about three years, she has already been on plenty of animal-cruelty raids, and has helped find better homes for hundreds of dogs, cats and exotic birds. Still, she thinks it's unlikely she will ever come across something like what she encountered last Wednesday, when she accompanied multiple East Texas law enforcement agencies on a raid that will go down in East Texas infamy.
"If you would have told me a few years ago that today I'd be feeding tigers, cougars, and leopards, I never would have believed you," she tells Hair Balls.
And those are far from the only critters now in her charge. In all, 141 animals were seized when authorities from agencies ranging from everything from the Waskom Police Department Reserves to the Texas Animal Health Commission to the U.S Marshals Office converged on the rural compound of new-in-town former circus performer Barbara Hoffman.
The cat trainer moved two weeks previously to the outskirts of Jefferson, Texas, after being asked by Hidalgo County authorities to take her beleaguered menagerie away from Edinburg in the Rio Grande Valley. In both places, it was her stated intent to open a sanctuary for the animals, though she had no paperwork to back that intention. "She had no permits. None from our county and none from any other county she had lived in," Wedding tells Hair Balls.
Wedding read Hair Balls the inventory of Hoffman's menagerie: "Dogs, cats, horses, Shetland ponies, mini-horses...and then we start into the turtles, parrots, sugargliders, doves, pigeons, Guinea pigs, wallabies, snakes, iguanas, different small reptiles, a tarantula, a coatimundi -- I think I'm pronouncing that correct, and right now the state is determining if it is endangered..."
And that's not all...
"Uh, we also have a monkey -- a crested macaque. She also had opossums, a raccoon or two, and then it goes to chickens, turkeys, ducks and a rabbit.
"Did I mention she had a wallaby?"
You did, we tell her, but you forgot about the big cats. "Well, those are so obvious. Here's the inventory of those: We have four tigers, and she had two cats she was calling 'panthers,' but that we think are really black spotted leopards. We also have just a regular leopard. Then we have what she is calling a Florida cougar, but we are not sure that's what it really is."
Wedding says the big cats had borderline health issues and were stored in cages that were much too small. Numerous witnesses to the scene described the conditions as filthy and reeking of animal waste. People on the scene spoke of ammonia vapors strong enough to burn your nose.
Wedding says that over a third of the smaller animals were stored in tiny pet-carrier type cages in the very same RV in which Hoffman and business partner Fred Lulling slept. She tells Hair Balls that Hoffman and Lulling shared that cramped living space with a total of 51 animals -- including 12 cats, 8 turtles, four boa constrictors, a tarantula, 13 birds, several sugar-gliders and Guinea pigs, not to mention the wallaby and the macaque.
"When you've got 50 small animals in a camper trailer that smells like 18 years of rotting urine, you're not taking care of your animals," said Marion County District Attorney William Gleason.
All of the animals were seized, and right now Hoffman and Lulling are in jail, charged with animal cruelty. According to Gleason, Hoffman can be cited for a Class C misdemeanor for not following regulations and sued by Marion County for fines up to $2,000 per day per animal.
For her part, Hoffman, who describes herself as "an ex-circus superstar," purported to be stunned by the raid.
"What happened to the welcome wagon lady? You know the one that brings you the brownies and say, 'Hey you wanna join the chamber? You want to be my friend?" Ms. Hoffman asked, in front of several law officers and a reporter from the Marshall News Messenger.
But Barbara Hoffman shouldn't have been so surprised. This was not the first time she had run afoul of the authorities in her superstar circus career.
Far from it.
From the auction block January 2010
"The footing at the Nationals was terrible!" "There should have been more shavings put in the dirt earlier." "It is hard to keep horses sound if the footing is not right." "The patron boxes were terrible at Tulsa." "We need to go elsewhere with the Nationals." "The problem with the Arabian horse business is that the trainers run things instead of the owners and breeders." "The judging at the show was terrible." "I showed my horse in 9 classes and the judges wouldn't use me any better than fourth." "Unless you have your horse with a big name trainer you just can't win." "We need more rich people in the Arabian business like we used to have." "I quit breeding because I can go buy a finished horse cheaper than I can raise one." "I quit breeding because I could not sell my foals for what it took to raise them." "The cost of going to the class A show is so high that we got out of it." "I am not going to put my horse in an Addis auction because he won't bring anything."
Above is just a sampling of the complaints we hear year round. Every one complains about the problems but no one does anything about them. All the problems mentioned above are trivial compared to the real problem. At one time we had over 40,000 members in AHA. As of December 31, 2009, we have 32,580 members. In 1986 we produced around 25,000 Arabian horses. As of December 31, 2009 we registered 5,544 purebreds and 2,056 Half-Arabians. Everyone has an idea what the other guy needs to do to fix his problem but no one is really talking about the 'elephant in the room'. Folks, as I have said before, the Arabian horse community is in trouble. If we don't make some drastic changes soon, we will continue to see the number of members and registrations plummet. We don't need more rich folks involved. In the words of Mr. Tim Shea, a man I highly respect, "We just need more people involved."
We just finished our 12th annual November auction. Just a few years ago I could guarantee that if you put your horse in the auction we could get it sold. I couldn't guarantee for how much, but we could sell every horse. That is not the case today. We see some very nice horses in every auction. They may not all be show quality or may have yet to be started under saddle but are, over all, nice horses that will make someone a good companion. Those horses are harder and harder to sell at any price. The horses that are selling today are the ones that can go to nationals and WIN.
Who ever coined the phrase, "a house divided cannot stand" could have been talking about the Arabian horse industry. (We now have the halter people putting on their own show because they do not like the new scoring system. The performance people are planning on putting on their own show sometime in 2011.) So, what is really wrong with the Arabian horse industry, business or community, or what ever you may want to call it?
- AHA runs their entire overstaffed company by producing horse shows instead of being the promotional arm for the Arabian horse.
- We have put too much emphasis on our national show and have made a class A championship mean little or nothing.
- As the organization has gotten smaller the cost to show has skyrocketed way out of range of most people's budget.
- We offer no kind of incentive for breeders to breed.
- Fewer stallions breed more mares.
- Backyard breeder can't sell their production.
- An up and coming young trainer has little hope to make it training horses. It is difficult for them to compete with the handful of top trainers especially when everything revolves around the big dance (Nationals).
- Our local shows have gotten smaller and smaller.
I had the opportunity to go to Shelbyville, Tennessee recently and met with the manager of the grounds that produces the Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration. Shelbyville is a town of 20,000 people and is an hour south of Nashville. When I went on the grounds I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the outdoor ring where they show their horses. It seats over 30,000 people! I asked the manager if they are able to fill those seats. He said they did in 2002 , but this last year they only had 25,000 spectators. I asked how they did it. He said back in 1939 the town wanted to have a community project that would help identify their town so the Chamber of Commerce along with the Lions Club, Rotary Club and other organizations went together to promote it. Now, can you imagine today having 25,000 spectators off the street at an Arabian horse show? Do you think that much exposure would help the sales of all our horses? Now I am not a big fan of the walking horse but you cannot help but be impressed with the job that Shelbyville has done.
We need this kind of mindset to build our breed, not everyone out to sell that $1,000,000 dollar horse to the wealthy that make up a minute percentage of our membership. We need the local clubs to put on activities that are fun, hands on and affordable. That may even be an event other than a show. I have often said if we have a market for every $1,000 horse, the high end will take care of itself.
So, what are the answers to turn things around? I don't have all the answers but being in the auction business, I follow most all of the different breed's auctions. The common denominator of most of the breeds that continue to do well is that they focus on young horses and monetary prizes.
In my opinion, here is what needs to be done to salvage our beautiful Arabian horse.
- Stop all shipping of semen. When you see a class of 30 horses at Nationals and more than half of those horses are all by the same sire, something is not right. We have run all of the small breeders out of business with shipped semen. When a small breeder would have 5-10 mares of his own and then also breed some outside mares, it kept him in business by having some income from mare care. It also kept our gene pool much larger and, if a small breeder had a good stallion, he could stay in business with the sale of breedings and the sale of his foals. The top stallions would rise to the top anyway. We need to get back to where a small breeder can breed a horse more cost effectively.
- Stop all embryo transfers. If a mare is not able to carry a foal to term, don't breed her. And we should not allow multiple foals out of the same mare in one year. If you have a great show mare then show her. Then wait until she is done showing and breed her. It would make her foals that much more valuable.
- Hire a Show Manager to run the National Championship show.
- Only the top 15 horses in each division are qualified for the Nationals. Have a point system that allows only the top horses in the country tocompete at Nationals each year. And require horses to re-qualify each year. Our national show is too expensive, too long, and too boring for the non-Arabian horse people sitting in the seats. If only the best 15 in each division were at Nationals, it would be an event, not just a show. We should only have evening classes and work to involve the local Junior League or other community groups to solicit people to be in the audience. We must have more exposure to the general public. We also need to change the way the horse show announcers work. They have announced for too many years to the exhibitor and not to the audience. We need to explain to the guy off the street what is going on. The only way we will ever draw any corporate sponsors is by having more bodies in the seats
- Once a horse is declared national champion in any division, he can no longer compete in that division at the nationals. One of the problems that we see in the national show is that the same horses come back year after year. So, consequently, there is little room for that next generation of horses to come up and win. Theoretically, when half the national Top 10 horses have been past national champions , there is only room for a few of the 18 regional champions to go top 10. If you look at all of the breeds that are still doing well, even in this economy, all of them revolve their competitions around young horses. If a horse does well in the Kentucky Derby he can't return the next year to run again. It is just for three-year-old horses. A log jam effect would happen if the same horses could come back. There would be no need for breeders to breed, no need for yearling sales, no need for trainers to start the next crop of colts. Our horses shown on the National level now have gotten older and older.
- Stop paying out Sweepstakes Money to horses after they are no longer a junior horse. We cannot reward the breeder by continuing to pay sweepstakes money to 15 year old horses. All of the breeds that are still successful put all of their emphasis on futurities of some kind.
- Do away with all regional horse shows. Our Regional horse shows that had 15 to 30 entries in each class a few years ago now have 2 or 3. Most Class A shows today have less than 80 horses at the show. If we did away with all the regional shows and put the emphasis to qualify a horse for the nationals at the class A level, it would raise the entries in the class A show. Whether on a point system or a monetary system, you would have to hustle to enough local shows to get your horse qualified for the big show. It would also return 'bragging rights' to the winners at those shows. Today, if someone tells us that their horse won several classes in local shows, it is hard to tell them that it really means very little. They only beat one or two horses to win. . We need to have our local Class A Arabian shows get back to a larger number of entries where the upstart trainers have a place to grow their skills.
- AHA should have a 7 person board of directors, relieve all of the regional directors of their duties and get rid of the delegates. We need to have a good board to be able to make quick and effective decisions. Look at NASCAR. It has grown from a Southeastern local sport to a major sporting event with millions of viewers. It is nothing more than watching souped up family cars go in a circle. Everything they do is to promote the sport and they come down hard on anyone or anything that is detrimental to the sport.
- More than anything we have got to have classes that are fun. Team roping continues to be the fastest growing equine activity. Next in line are the cowboy action shooting, the team sorting and team penning. There is no reason that our Arabian horse cannot be competitive in all of these disciplines. We have to appeal to those that want to have fun in disciplines that are easy to understand.
- It is imperative to have young horse trainers coming in to the Arabian horse business. In 1980, the average age of Arabian horse trainers was around 24 years old. Today the average age is more like 50. If there was more emphasis put on the local Class A shows it would give these young people a chance to get in and show the horse people their talents.
Everyone knows the economy in 2009 was not good. But even with the state of the economy and a 37% drop in sales from the previous year at the Keeneland auction, they still had a $60,734 average on 3,605 head. The 2009 Standard bred Yearling auction in Harrisburg, PA had a $31,591 average on 1,086 head. The running Quarter Horse yearling sale was down 15% from 2008 but they still had an average of $8,700 on 783 head.
To sum it up, we have to put more emphasis on smaller shows that are affordable to middle income folks and a place for the small breeder to be competitive and also have shows for up and coming trainers to show their talents.
Please keep in mind, we all have an opinion and the above is just that, my opinion.
"One man, Bill Addis, addressing an issue/concern of a failing industry publicly, not behind closed door's, or with anonymous jabs, but with intelligence and concern."
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Fredy and Geraldine Knie
Above is Geraldine Knie's new act and below is Fredy Knie's act which I have posted before, but which I can look at over and over. Geraldine's has some massive boot's to fill, and she appears to be doing it quite admirably.
Can anybody help Betsy?
Hi Mr. Burck,
This is Betsy Golden - Bill's sister. I saw the great footage of him with the 1974 tigers on your fabulous blog site the other day (Texas Dates). I hadn't seen that in 37 years!!!! What a treat - thank you. I'd like to see if Mike Naughton or anyone else for that matter, have any additional footage of his act available. I'm trying to get some things together to surprise him and I'd appreciate any advice or help you can give me.
Thanks again,
Betsy
"If anybody has anything, let me know and I will send it on to Betsy or give you her email, and it can be sent direct."
"If anybody has anything, let me know and I will send it on to Betsy or give you her email, and it can be sent direct."
More on the Ohio Arabian Horse rescue.
The stallion above was named Benevolence V((Huckleberry Bey ++ X Basquilette) He was put down yesterday due to his condition. Below are pictures of the great show horse/breeding stallion from 2007. 
Monday, February 1, 2010
Alfred Court Site
http://www.facebook.com/l/a8446;alfred.court.free.fr/indexzoocircus.htm
Courtesy of Andrew Blake Wightman
Daniel Suskow video
Check out Thomas Bohners Cage Act History Blog(Link in the right column) He has found a great video of Daniel's lion act in 1976. You want to talk about "belly manes", some of these male's are the finest I have seen.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Capt Fritz Schultz
Capt. Fritz Schultz--RBBB Circus 1944
I just received word from Stephanie Robinson that Capt. Fritz Schultz died this morning(Australia's morning). Capt. Schultz was one of the well known "Alfred Court trainers" I believe he was 99 years old or close to it. Capt. Schultz became well known in Australia later in his career, and I hope Steve Robinson and Jim Clubb are able to tell us more about this remarkable man. Rest easy, Capt.
31 horses rescued; 6 others euthanized near Oak Harbor
In a barn in Ottawa County's Carroll Township, near Oak Harbor, agents of the Humane Society of Ottawa County found 37 Arabian horses alive. One foal was dead. Six horses were in such poor shape that they were euthanized. The rest were taken to the fairgrounds.
More than 30 horses Saturday found comfort at last in a Sandusky County Fairgrounds stable, blankets shielding their frail bodies from the cold and volunteers offering a steady supply of hay.
No charges have been filed. Citing an ongoing investigation, Officer Silva did not identify the farm where the horses were taken or the person who owned them.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Alexis Casselly injured
I just received new's that Alexis Casselly was seriously injured when one of the Casselly elephants "lost his balance and fell," crushing Mrs. Casselly right leg with his tusk. The Casselley's were appearing on Gran Circo Mundial in Madrid, and she was admitted to La Paz Hospital, where her prognosis is considered serious. I wish good luck and a speedy recovery to a classy lady and her family.
Controversial Christian zoo skinned tiger Tira and stored her head in freezer
Tira above
Oct. 19, 2009 Mail Online
A Christian zoo decapitated a dead tiger and cut off its paws before it dumped the carcass on farmland and stored the head in a freezer, an investigation has revealed.
The female Bengal tiger called Tira was skinned after she died of natural causes and then buried in a black bin bag at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm.
Investigators also discovered she was on loan from the owner of the Great British Circus - one of the last big top shows in Britain to use live tigers in performances.
Bosses at the zoo, in Wraxall near Bristol, admitted the skin, paws and head were removed to be hung on the wall as part of a display for 'secondary education'.
After the revelations, staff at Noah's Ark - which promotes creationism and denies the theory of evolution - dug up the remains and incinerated them.
The case emerged in an undercover investigation by campaign group the Captive Animals Protection Society (CAPS), which planted an undercover worker at the zoo.
The organisation also claims the zoo is raising young tigers as part of a breeding programme to hand back to the circus.
Campaign Director Craig Redmond today called for the attraction to be closed down.
He said: 'What we discovered was shocking but really only scratched at the surface of what goes on in zoos.
'We initially planned just to confirm that the zoo was a breeding centre for the circus owner but the fate of the tiger Tira, her mutilated body dumped in a hole, shows how these animals are treated as commodities, bred to attract tourists.
'We have reported the zoo to various authorities including the local council which licenses the zoo, calling for an investigation as well as its licence to be revoked.'
The undercover 'employee' spent two months working as a volunteer at the site from early June to mid August and secretly filmed conversations.
During that time, recorded conversations confirmed that staff were aware animals were received from Martin Lacey, who owns the Great British Circus.
But when asked, members of the public were told the animals were bought in from a 'private collection in the north' - which it emerged was Mr Lacey.
Three tigers arrived at the zoo in June and July, one of which was the heavily pregnant six-year-old Bengal tiger, Tira.
Three of her cubs were stillborn and the fourth was immediately removed and hand-reared but died three weeks later.
Tira died ten days after the birth and staff cut off her head and paws before her skin was removed and her body dumped on the farm's grounds.
Mr Redmond added: 'The body was buried for reasons unknown, but before any test or a post mortem could be carried out to ascertain the cause of death.
'The head was later seen by our undercover investigator wrapped in a black bag in a freezer, but the paws were never seen again.
'Our insider was told the skin would be hung on the wall as a decoration.'
Anthony Bush, the owner of Noah's Ark, said he has since dug the tiger up and corrected his mistake after Defra vowed to investigate.
A spokeswoman for the zoo said: 'Noah's Ark does not own or hold circus tigers and they are not the property of the Great British Circus.
'The Tigers at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm belong to Linctrek Ltd, a company providing trained animals for use in film, other collections and TV.
'A director of Linctrek is Martin Lacey, who also owns the Great British Circus. We have never, when questioned, withheld information regarding this.
'It has always been well known that our tigers and camels come from a private collector in the north of England.
'Tira the tiger died from a pre-existing condition which was found following a thorough and legal post mortem. Being a zoo and a farm we buried the Tiger under regulations covering farm land.
'However, on subsequently being informed of other regulations we acted instantly to remedy this situation.
'The tiger skin, head and feet will be used for secondary education here at the Zoo and is a common practice within the zoo community.
'The welfare of the animals is exceptional with Noah's Ark passing government and institutionally accredited inspections.'
However, the zoo denied claims that it is part of a breeding programme and says it had 'no immediate plans' to hand back Tira's cubs.
The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Somerset Trading Standards and Defra have all vowed to investigate the allegations.
Professional group the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums said it would also investigate.
Courtesy of Robert Morgan
Friday, January 29, 2010
Circus Knie elephants--1968
I remember when an elephant pyramid was done at Circus World. The video was filmed in 1968. Does anybody remember when it was done at Circus World? Look at the beautiful headpieces, reminisent of Circus Krone's.
Sue and Rudi Lenz--2010 Circus Ring of Fame Inductees--Circus Knie 1968
The monkey's in the video below, have nothing on the cowboy in the picture above!!!!!
Video courtesy of Mike Naughton
Animal potato chips--Classic Johnny Carson comedy. He doesn't say the "F" word once, and he was still the funniest.
http://www.johnnycarson.com/carson
Courtesy of Paul McCarthy
This is an olive python and the photo is from the Kimberley region of Western Australia
Look at the size of the Kangaroo that the snake is pulling out of the water!!!!
Courtesy of John Goodall
Animal confiscation update. Listen and look closely to the video with the first link
A Circus Superstar not working, above
A Circus Superstar working, above.
A Circus Superstar deceased, above.
http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11891664
The world is often times confused about what the circus and animal training is or what it is about. 99% of the time it is because some idiot has said something that is at worst a gross lie and at best self serving bull shit. Barbara Hoffman, with all due respect seem's to be confused about the title "Circus Superstar," as she is quoted in the video with the world's most bizzare alibi, "I'm a circus superstar, and this is how we look, when we are not working!!!!!!!!" So the world understands what a Circus Superstar is, and to also educate Ms. Hoffman as she doesn't seem to have half of a clue, I have posted the above pictures of a Circus Superstar. Ms. Hoffman, that statement will go in my book of "The most ignorant thing's a person has ever said," right along side Jim Zajicek's quote, "Don't you think Daisy Mae is about the prettiest animal you have ever seen.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
This gives the industry called "circus" a terrible black eye. Circus need's to be graded so that people know there are different kinds of circus!!!!!
St. Lucie OKs elephant center project
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/jan/26/st-lucie-votes-elephant-center-today-opponents-obj/
Courtesy of Joey Ratliff
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Elephant calf Barack to appear in Ringling Bros. Circus at the BJCC
There’s a new kid in town, and his name is Barack.
Well, technically he’s not a kid. He’s a calf.
Baby Barack at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (Special)Barack, who just turned 1, is the newest addition to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey elephant fleet, and he’s making his debut in the tour that hits Birmingham on Wednesday.
Janice Aria, director of animal stewardship, was present for the birth of Barack, which she calls “the fruition of an amazing project.”
“He’s our first artificial insemination birth after many tries,” Aria says.
Importing Asian elephants into the U.S. has been illegal since 1973, so the only elephants that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey will have are the ones they breed themselves. The artificial insemination project has been a way to accomplish that, while at the same time teaching Asian people how to take care of their elephant population, Aria says.
“These animals are close to disappearing off the Earth,” she says. “We’re teaching them how to take care of their elephants in captivity instead of shooting them. We’re not saying that it’s necessarily better, but we’re saying it’s an alternative. A lot of our adversaries say that this whole idea of turning them back into the wild is non-existent.”
That’s probably the furthest thing from baby Barack’s mind. His mom, Bonnie, has been touring with the circus for years (she’s 15).
“She was inseminated, and then in her last trimester, she was taken off the road and went to (Barnum’s) Center for Elephant Conservation,” Aria says. After Barack’s birth (the day after the presidential inauguration, hence his political name), handlers needed to determine if he could perform in the circus.
“If a baby elephant doesn’t have that temperament, it’s not going to work,” Aria says. “How do you make an elephant do what he doesn’t want to do? It just ain’t going to happen.”
Right now, Barack appears briefly in the show, with mom at his side at all times.
“He walks out there with his mom and walks right along with her,” Aria says. “This little guy is such a ham. Right now, he’s having the time of his life, and his mom is back where she’s supposed to be.”
For Aria, who has been with the circus for nearly 40 years, that’s under the big top.
“Some people feel there should be no interaction between humans and animals,” she says.
“But the elephants are the flagship of the circus. P.T. Barnum said you can’t have a circus without elephants and clowns, and I’m a little partial to that.”
"God almighty, these are some of the sharpest costumes I have ever seen. It kinda validates sitting in your trailer and hand sewing sequins for that "professional look."
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