Circus news

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NEW ZEALAND

22/12/00 - Circus chimp off to refuge

By ANNE BESTON

 

One of New Zealand’s last performing chimps is on his way to a new home in

Africa as New Zealand's best-known circus man makes a stand against using

exotic animals for show.

 

Circus Magic owner Cary Ridgway, whose family have run circuses in

Australasia for 150 years, has agreed to give 12-year-old Sonny to a Zambian

chimp sanctuary after long negotiations with NZ animal rights group Safe.

 

Mr Ridgway said Circus Magic's shows now use only domestic dogs and ponies.

 

" I've never really supported the use of animals like lions and elephants,

but I inherited those animals because the family had one of the biggest

travelling zoos in the world, " he said.

 

" Sonny is the last in the line. The world is changing, especially in the

past four to five years, and what was acceptable in the 1970s is not

acceptable now. "

 

Safe spokesman Gary Reese said circus owners worldwide were under mounting

pressure to stop using wild animals in their shows, and Sonny's release was

another step in the right direction.

 

Tough new animal welfare regulations being considered by the NZ Ministry of

Agriculture and Forestry would make it even more difficult for circus

owners.

 

" We believe exotic animals will be banned from circuses, " he said. " It's

only a matter of time. "

 

Sonny's brother, Buddy, was taken to the Chimfunshi sanctuary after a

fundraising campaign by Safe early this year. Sonny will join him there next

month.

 

" It's really going to be fantastic for him, " Mr Reese said. " Reuniting the

two is an incredible achievement. "

 

It would cost about $40,000 to get Sonny to Chimfunshi. Mr Ridgway and Mr

Reese would travel with him.

 

The last circus chimp in New Zealand is Sonny's other brother, Mr Muggins,

who is with Mr Ridgway's brother's circus. Safe continues to fight for his

release.

 

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AUSTRIA -- the big Austrian National Circus has announced its bancruptcy.

 

Four years of permanent campaigning from grassroots activists brought the

circus to its knees.

 

In 1996, the Viennese environmental council, a council set up by the

Viennese provincial government, had funded a report by Austrian scientists

into the well-being of circus animals. The report clearly stated that wild

animals cannot be kept in a circus at all in any way that can guarantee

their well-being.

 

There is now only one circus using animals in Austria, the circus

Wien-Belly, with 2 elefants as their wild animals. We don't envy them....