9.
BEAR ATTACKS HANDLER
Two years ago in the northwestern Russian city of Olonets, a bear attacked his handler
with spectators seated just a few feet away.
The muzzled beast was participating in an act called “Clubfoot and the Garden Wheelbarrow”
when he decided he’d had enough of pushing a wheelbarrow around at his handler’s command.
Seemingly out of nowhere, the bear lunged toward his trainer and tackled the man to
the floor.
Another circus employee rushed in and tried getting the situation under control by kicking
the bear in his shoulder and side.
In harrowing footage of the shocking ordeal, terrified audience members can be heard screaming.
The bear was subdued, and nobody was injured, according to state news agency TASS.
A spokesperson announced in the aftermath of the scare that the act had been removed
from the circus.
For the safety of its future audiences, the company parted ways with both the trainer
and the bear.
Probably a wise move!
While reassuring the public that they would not have to worry about history repeating
itself, the spokesperson pointed out that the attack was not the bear’s fault, and
that he may have attacked out of fear provoked by camera flashes.
This is just one of several incidents in recent years that have drawn attention to the controversial
use of animals in circus acts.
Activists accuse companies of exploiting and abusing their animals, and are calling for
a complete end to the practice of subjecting creatures to forced labor.
These types of acts are especially popular in Russia, but their days may be numbered.
In 2019, one city in southwestern Russia banned the use of wild animals in circuses, citing
ethical complications.
8.
THE HARTFORD CIRCUS FIRE
One of the worst fire disasters in American history happened on July 6, 1944 in Hartford,
Connecticut.
Because the U.S. was embroiled in World War II at the time, it was common for traveling
circuses to struggle with supply shortages, delays, and other malfunctions.
During an afternoon performance beneath the Ringling Brothers big top, a small fire started
in the southwest section of the massive tent.
The blaze was first spotted by bandleader Merle Evans, who instructed his musicians
to play “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”
This was traditionally used as a way to signal distress to circus staff without alarming
the audience.
The ringmaster then tried ushering the audience out of the tent while reassuring people not
to panic.
But his request to leave in an orderly fashion went unheard, because the power had blown.
Realizing that something was horribly wrong, guests began to flee for the exits.
Meanwhile, employees tried to keep people calm, but their efforts were in vain.
Out of an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 spectators, 168 died and over 700 were injured.
Sadly, only 100 of the guests who died were more than 15 years old.
Investigators never determined what caused the fire, but they believe that it resulted
from a carelessly discarded cigarette butt.
Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey willingly held themselves financially accountable for
the fiasco, but they did not take responsibility for the fire itself.
In 1950, an Ohio man named Robert Dale Segee confessed to starting this and numerous other
fires, as well as several murders, since his childhood.
He was convicted on unrelated arson charges and was sentenced to 44 years behind bars.
But investigators have doubted the authenticity of Segee’s confession regarding the circus
fire, and Segee himself backtracked and denied the crime later on in his life.
He died in 1997, and many people believe that the true arsonist got away with setting the
blaze.
7.
A DEADLY STOMPING
After finishing a performance in Fort Wayne, Indiana back in 2005, a 40-year-old elephant
trainer named Pierre Spenle fell on the floor of an animal trailer.
He was knocked unconscious and three Asian elephants, weighing over 7,000 pounds (3,175
kg) each, stomped him to death.
Spenle’s co-workers weren’t there to witness the tragedy because they had left him alone
to secure the gate after loading the elephants into the trailer.
Allen County coroner Jon Brandenberger determined that the man’s death was a tragic accident.
He concluded that Spenle’s fall triggered a natural reaction from the elephants.
Brandenberger explained that once a handler is on the floor, he’s no longer the trainer
in the animals’ eyes, but a mere object at their feet.
An expert told Brandenberger that the elephants probably began stomping on Spenle out of curiosity,
rather than aggression.
On the record, the Tarzan Zerbini Circus employee succumbed to blunt force trauma causing fatal
chest injuries.
Spenle had worked with the three elephants for 18 years leading up to his death, according
to general manager Larry Solheim.
Following the tragic incident, the company amended its policies to no longer allow one
person to finish loading an animal trailer alone.
6.
THE END OF AN ERA
Once dubbed the “greatest show on Earth,” the famous Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey
circus pulled the plug on its acts in 2017 amid declining ticket sales and widespread
controversy revolving around allegations of animal abuse.
Animal rights nonprofit PETA protested the big-name circus for 36 years before finally
achieving what it saw as a victory for performing animals.
The company’s final show marked the end of a 146-year era of family fun that involved
watching elephants, tigers, and other mammals perform unnatural stunts at the mercy of their
handlers.
PETA accused the circus of employing cruel training techniques, including the use of
painful bullhooks, ropes, and electric prods to get animals to cooperate.
This essentially means that trainers force animals to perform under duress, out of fear
and domination.
Because circuses seem like fun, happy events, it took a long time for the public to catch
on to what allegedly goes on behind closed doors.
But the end of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey shows was a landmark case in changing
how the population at large thinks about circus animals.
Since then, numerous local and state governments have taken action against these seemingly
cruel acts.
For example, in July, Colorado lawmakers passed legislation banning traveling circus shows
that feature wild animals.
Could circuses do something different to avoid allegations of animal abuse?
The answer is complicated.
In order to stay mentally and physically healthy, most creatures need a lot more space, and
a more natural habitat, than any traveling show can offer.
And many people believe that animals should never be forced to work, meaning that they
see the circus as inherently cruel.
5.
A FATAL FIASCO
Ettore Weber was a tiger tamer who worked for Circo Orfei, Italy’s most famous circus.
During a training session in 2019, four tigers attacked the 61–year-old handler.
One of the big cats, named Sultan, clawed Weber’s jugular vein, killing him within
seconds.
Weber’s assistant and widow, Loredana Vulcanelli, begged the authorities not to euthanize Sultan.
She argued that her husband made a wrong move during the act, triggering the tiger’s violent
reaction.
She said that Weber’s footing was off, and that the misstep was enough to incite the
aggressive behavior.
Vulcanelli denied rumors that the tigers played with her husband’s corpse after mauling
him to death.
She clarified that three of the felines fled in fear while Sultan stood protectively over
Weber’s dead body, as if he knew he had done something wrong and was reflecting upon
his mistake.
Even though she did not hold the tigers one bit responsible for Weber’s death, the tragedy
devastated the widow.
After burying her husband with his beloved taming whips, Vulcanelli told news outlet
Quotidiano that she felt a heartbreaking pain that she’d never forget.
The couple had considered retiring before the incident, but decided to continue with
their careers for a few more years.
Police seized all eight of the pair’s tigers, and Vulcanelli continued to fight adamantly
against any of them being put down.
4.
THE ELEPHANT MAN’S DEATH
Joseph Merrick, better known as the “Elephant Man,” was famous for his deformities.
He was born in England in 1862 and began to show signs of facial abnormalities before
the age of five.
The cause of the bizarre growths on Merrick’s face is unclear to this day.
His mother and stepfather rejected him over the condition, and he spent much of his childhood
living and working with an uncle.
During his early 20s, Merrick used his distinctive appearance to his advantage and began appearing
as a sideshow act in England.
He joined a traveling show and toured Europe before his manager robbed and abandoned him
in Brussels, Belgium.
From there, the so-called “Elephant Man” went to the London Hospital, where he stayed
for the remainder of his short life.
He was visited daily by a surgeon named Frederick Treves, whom he formed a close friendship
with, and also received frequent visits from members of England’s high society, including
Alexandria, Princess of Wales.
Merrick died in 1890 at just 27 years old.
Asphyxia was ruled as his official cause of death, but Treves claimed that the man died
from a dislocated neck.
Rumor has it that the weight of Merrick’s head crushed his spinal cord because he tried
to sleep laying down, which he had been unable to do for a number of years.
Since then, medical experts have tried figuring out what caused the growths on the Elephant
Man’s face.
DNA tests conducted in 2003 proved inconclusive.
Some researchers believe that Merrick suffered from a rare genetic disorder called Proteus
syndrome, which can cause tissue overgrowth.
3.
TIGER ATTACK
Roy Horn, of the famous magician and entertainer duo Siegfried and Roy, never expected his
59th birthday celebration to go terribly awry.
But it did.
As Roy performed for an audience of friends and fellow entertainers one fateful evening
in October 2003, a nearly 400-pound (181 kg) white tiger named Montecore lunged toward
the man and brutally mauled him.
The big cat clamped Roy by the neck and dragged him offstage.
The freak accident came on the heels of the performer’s pristine track record of over
400,000 shows without any animal-related conflicts.
Roy was rushed to the hospital and endured numerous surgeries.
The attack left long-term damage, making it difficult for Roy to walk and talk, and the
Siegfried and Roy show was abruptly shut down.
Accounts of what actually happened that night vary.
Some witnesses claimed that Roy had a stroke, and that Montecore reacted instinctively in
an attempt to protect him.
Others reported that the tiger began behaving strangely, then attacked Roy after he put
himself between the big cat and the audience to protect the spectators.
In 2019, former animal trainer Chris Lawrence came forward with his version of events.
He claimed that the attack resulted from Roy not spending enough time with the tigers,
instead treating them like props rather than living creatures.
Lawrence said that he tried to intervene but was unsuccessful.
As an eyewitness to the gory encounter, he now struggles with post traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) and an alcohol addiction.
He told USA Today that he does not believe Roy was ever properly held accountable for
his role in the attack, and that he was shielded from the reality of the gruesome incident.
It seems as though the full truth may forever remain in the shadows.
2.
A CAREER-ENDING STUNT
Rossa Matilda Richter made the history books as the world’s first-ever human cannonball
in 1877.
She also performed numerous other stunts, including tightrope walking, high diving,
and trapeze routines.
The gutsy woman, who used the stage name Zazel, endured numerous injuries throughout her career.
It reached a point where journalists and the public began to worry about her safety, and
even led to the proposal of new laws banning dangerous acrobatic stunts in England.
Zazel relocated to the U.S., where she could perform her acts with less controversy.
She traveled Europe and North America with various circuses, including Barnum & Bailey,
but her injuries caused her to occasionally take breaks from performing.
Richter nearly died during a tightrope act at a show in New Mexico in 1891.
While walking 40 feet (12.2 meters) in the air, the poles at either end of the rope came
apart, and she plummeted to the ground, landing on her hands and knees.
One of the poles hit Zazel and broke her back.
Her injuries were serious enough to more-or-less force her into retirement after spending several
months in a full body cast.
Some internet sources claim that Zazel’s human cannonball act killed her, but this
isn’t true.
She lived to the ripe old age of 77, and passed away in 1937 at a London hospital.
1.
BEAR WHISPERING GONE WRONG
From a young age, Russian circus employee Valentin Bulich was determined to work with
bears.
One day last year, the 28-year-old cage cleaner decided he was ready to interact with an adult
bear after having some success working with cubs.
He stole the keys to a cage housing a massive seven-year-old brown bear named Yasha and
locked himself inside with the beast, hoping that the two would find a “common language”
with one another.
Instead, Yasha mauled Bulich to death, scalping him in the process.
The man’s co-workers rushed to the cage, but by the time they got there, it was too
late to save Bulich’s life.
He was mortally wounded and died at a hospital shortly after the incident.
Bulich’s family and neighbors remembered him as a hardworking and kind man with a deep
compassion for animals.
While that may be true, one thing was clear: he overestimated his ability to connect with
Yasha and grossly violated his employer’s rules.
Claiming that captivity and training make wild animals more prone to aggression, animal
rights activists argued that tragedies like this could be avoided entirely if circuses
were banned.
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