The most prominent touring circus in the U.S. said Thursday that by 2018 it will end its century-old display of Asian elephants, bowing to growing public concern about how the giant animals are treated.

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus uses 13 elephants in its three traveling shows to 115 cities a year. For decades, the elephants have been featured in parades as the Ringling circus arrives in cities and then played prominent roles in the shows.

Even now, Ringling’s parent company, Feld Entertainment, has an elephant highlighted on its web site, with a sign on an elephant’s head touting its circus as “The Greatest Show on Earth.”

For years, the Ringling circus has rebuffed critics alleging that it mistreats the animals. But company executives acknowledged that its customers have voiced growing concern about the circus touring with the animals. The company also noted that some U.S. jurisdictions have passed what it calls “anti-circus” or “anti-elephant” laws that make it difficult to plan tours with the changing regulations.

Ringling said that as use of the touring elephants is phased out, they will join 29 others the company owns at its elephant preserve in (the southern state of) Florida, a facility it eventually hopes to open to the public.
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