Went to last night's opening performance of the 136th edition of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey at Staples Center, in particular to observe more closely for myself the elephants' role in the show and how they are handled. With a 2000 lawsuit against the circus wending its way toward a trial, probably next year, the endangered Asian elephants may not be a part of the show much longer if Ringling loses.
The usual number of protesters were outside the arena, and Ringling made its customary promotional push about the Center for Elephant Conservation, its captive breeding program in Florida. But what really caught my attention were the animated "talking" elephants on the jumbo screen who proclaimed that the tricks the pachyderms do in the show are "natural behaviors."
If anybody out there has seen video of an Asian elephant in the wild balancing on its trunk and forelegs, or maybe perching one foreleg on a rock or treestump and then walking around it in a circle, I'd love to know about it.