France to ban wild animals in circuses amid fears of mistreatment

THE French government is poised to introduce a bill next month to ban wild animals in circuses over concerns that they are often mistreated.

Local councils in Paris and several other cities have already voted for bans after a series of cases in which bears, tigers and lions were found to be underfed, in poor health without adequate veterinary care, or kept in cramped, often filthy cages.

Pénélope Komitès, deputy mayor of Paris, said: “This is in line with social progress that all French people want.”

A ban is due to take effect in England in January, when a local ban will also come into force in Paris. Several EU nations have abolished the use of exotic animals.

The case of a bear named Mischa, who could hardly breathe because of a chain around his neck, triggered public outrage in France after an animal rights’ group published photographs of the bedraggled beast.

It was made to wear a frilly collar when performing to hide marks from the chain.

It was found with two other bears, Glasha and Bony, in a tiny, rat-infested concrete enclosure with a corrugated metal roof.

“In winter, they froze and in summer they sweltered,” said a spokesman for One Voice, which publicised the images. “They were fed dog biscuits and rotten fruit and vegetables.”

After Mischa’s death last month, the prefect of Loir-et-cher, in central France, ordered the transfer of the two surviving bears to an animal shelter. Veterinarians found that Glasha had a tumour on an eye and both had damaged teeth.

Domesticated animals such as horses will still be allowed under the proposed legislation, but wild animals such as lions, tigers, bears and elephants would be prohibited.

Gilbert Gruss, head of the Arlette Gruss circus, opposes a ban. “There have never been wild animals in circuses,” he said.

“None of them were captured in their natural habitat. They were born in captivity… Banning animals is hypocritical, incredible when you think how many big cats are killed by millionaires who go on safari. We love animals, but we’re being prevented from working. We’ve become pariahs.”

Circus-goers are divided. One couple, Samy and Nadia, said their two children “adored the big cats” at a Lyon circus. “They didn’t look unhappy,” Samy said. “It’s a Christmas treat.”

But another couple, Damien and Delphine, who took their three-yearold twins to the circus, said they were disgusted. “I almost walked out,” Delphine said. “How can you leave elephants

‘In winter, the bears froze and in summer they sweltered. They were fed dog biscuits and rotten fruit’

balancing on a stool for a quarter of an hour?” She said they had lost their natural skin colour and their ears were “in tatters”.

The Bouglione circus at Paris’s famous Cirque d’hiver has already replaced lions and tigers with performing dogs and cats.

In the Lyon suburb of Villeurbanne, circuses have avoided using wild animals for several years, said Jean-paul Bret, the mayor. “We like circuses a lot in Villeurbanne, but most people here support a ban so we have circuses without live animals, just wooden ones, and audiences love it,” he said.