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Ringling's 'Greatest Show on Earth' is planning to make a comeback in Florida, but without animals

WUSF | By Associated Press
Published October 29, 2021 at 8:57 AM EDT
A Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey clown does a somersault during a performance in Orlando in January 2017. Four years after the “Greatest Show On Earth" shut down, officials are planning to bring back the The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. But animals will no longer be featured in their shows. A spokesperson for Florida-based Feld Entertainment says an announcement is expected sometime next year. The three-ring circus shut down in May 2017 after a 146-year run.
Chris O'Meara
/
AP
A Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey clown does a somersault during a performance in Orlando in January 2017. Four years after the “Greatest Show On Earth" shut down, officials are planning to bring back the The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. But animals will no longer be featured in their shows. A spokesperson for Florida-based Feld Entertainment says an announcement is expected sometime next year. The three-ring circus shut down in May 2017 after a 146-year run.

Four years after the “Greatest Show On Earth" shut down, officials are planning to bring back the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

But animals will no longer be featured in their shows.

A spokesperson for Florida-based Feld Entertainment says an announcement is expected sometime next year.

The three-ring circus shut down in May 2017 after a 146-year run. Costly court battles with animal rights activists led circus officials to end elephant acts in 2016.

Without the elephants, ticket sales declined.

Officials also blamed increased railroad costs, and the rise of online games and videos, which made the “Greatest Show On Earth” not seem that great anymore.

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