Las Vegas Circus Returns, Sans Animals

Circus company Ramos Bros. is returning for its 11th year, this time without animal acts. The company’s traveling circus—where it leaves its Las Vegas home base to make stops across the western United States from February to December—will instead feature clowns, motorcycle stunts, trapeze artists, dancers, and jugglers. Circuses that feature animal acts are dwindling, with many countries (including Mexico, Iran, and The Netherlands) implementing bans on exploiting wild animals for this sort of entertainment. Stateside, progress in removing animals from the entire entertainment industry has been made within both large- and small-scale productions—most notably last month’s announcement that 146-year-old company Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus would hold its last show this May.