LGBTQ news and entertainment
Impossible not to smile while watching this. Serious cuteness ensues.
Happy Friday!
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After 145 years, Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus’ have announced they will retire elephant acts from their line-up over the next three years. From USA Today:
Calling the decision “unprecedented,” the circus’ parent company, Feld Entertainment, announced Thursday that it will phase out the performances by 2018. Members of the public have voiced concerns about how elephants and other animals are treated in circus acts. The 13 elephants that are now part of the Ringling Bros. shows will be sent to the circus’ Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida by 2018, joining over 40 others. In a statement, Kenneth Feld, Chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment said “this is the most significant change we have made since we founded the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation in 1995. When we did so, we knew we would play a critical role in saving the endangered Asian elephant for future generations, given how few Asian elephants are left in the wild . . .This decision was not easy, but it is in the best interest of our company, our elephants and our customers.” Other animals, however, will still be seen under the big top. The 145-year-old circus says that it will continue to showcase, horses, dogs, tigers and other animals in its performances.
Ingrid E. Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals responded to the news:
“For 35 years PETA has protested Ringling Bros.’ cruelty to elephants,” she said. But she added that the 2018 deadline is too far off. “Three years is too long for a mother elephant separated from her calf . … too long for an animal who roams up to 30 miles a day in the wild to be kept in shackles. If the decision is serious, then the circus needs to do it now.”
From the Houston Zoo:
Baylor (weighs more than 1100 pounds) and Tupelo (weighs more than 600 pounds) now get a family size pool which is 120 inches in length and holds both calves. It is a lot more durable. Apparently, the calves more “baby” sized pool would only last about five minutes before popping.
This size pool lasts for about 5 uses before it has to be replaced. Playing in the pool is a fun enrichment activity for the babies and the pool is given to them when the weather allows. Pool time is unannounced and unplanned.
Don’t miss Tupelo getting back in the pool at the :22 mark.
For some reason, NBC Sports Network has been airing an NRA-sponsored hunting show called Under Wild Skies, on which gun-humping .
Above is a highlight reel from this week’s episode of NBC Sports Network’s Under Wild Skies. In it, NRA lobbyist Tony Makris shoots elephants in the face.
He is led into the Botswana wilderness by a hunting guide. They hide behind a bush, about 20 feet away from an unsuspecting elephant. Makris shoots at the elephant twice, but does not kill it. The elephant, terrified, runs away. Makris catches up to the elephant and shoots it again, killing it. Everyone goes home to drink champagne.
Hunting elephants is currently legal in Botswana, but sharp declines in wildlife populations due to trophy hunting have led to an all-out ban that won’t go into effect until 2014.