Wild animals to be banned from circuses in England by 2020, says Government

The use of wild animals by travelling circuses will be banned from 2020, the Government has pledged, following a long-running campaign by animal welfare advocates to outlaw the practice.

Ministers have been promising to implement a ban for five years, but the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed one will come into place by 19 January 2020.

The announcement was made at a review of the Welfare of Wild Animals in Travelling Circuses (England) Regulations 2012, that were introduced as an interim measure ahead of the ban.

“The current Regulations expire on 19 January 2020. The Government does not intend to renew the Regulations as it intends to ensure that a legislative ban is introduced by then. The Regulations will then be allowed to expire,” the report reads.

Activists have long accused circuses of beating, starving and keeping their animals in unsanitary conditions while they are made to perform for crowds.

Jan Creamer, president of Animal Defenders International, congratulated the government for keeping their promise.

“Having campaigned to stop circus suffering around the world for over 20 years, we’re delighted that a ban is finally imminent,” she said. “Circuses cannot meet the needs of animals in small, mobile accommodation and ADI has repeatedly documented suffering and abuse. We congratulate the UK Government on consigning this outdated act to the past where it belongs.”

Similar bans have recently been passed in Ireland and Scotland, and are under discussion in Wales.

Just two circuses in the UK have wild animal licenses – Circus Mondao and Peter Jolly’s Circus.

Together they have 19 animals between them: six reindeer, four zebra, three camels, three racoons, a fox, a macaw and a zebu.

But opinion polls consistently show the public remains overwhelmingly opposed to wild animal acts, with a high proportion against all animal acts.

Wild animal circus acts are opposed by both the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) and the British Veterinary Association, which stated: “The welfare needs of non-domesticated, wild animals cannot be met within a travelling circus – in terms of housing or being able to express normal behaviour.”