Say No To Exotic Animal Circuses on The Central Coast, NSW

Dear Gosford City Councillors and Mayor Lawrie McKinna

As a resident in your constituency I call on you to support a state-wide ban on circuses that unnecessarily use exotic animals to perform tricks for 'entertainment'.

Performing circus animals, such as lions, tigers and monkeys, are kept for prolonged periods in close confinement, in artificial social groups; they are continually being transported between circus venues for the duration of their performing lives and are often subjected to cruel training techniques - all for the purpose of entertainment. Scientific studies have shown that the life of a circus animal leads to stress and boredom, and often results in abnormal behaviours such as repetitive pacing or swaying.

In 2009, a review of the suitability of wild animals to live in a travelling circus was published in the journal Animal Welfare (Iossa G, Soulsbury CD Harris S. (2009) Are wild animals suited to a travelling circus life? Animal Welfare 18: 129-140). This review found that for non-domesticated (exotic) animals to be suitable for circus life, circus animals would need to exhibit low space requirements, simple social structures, low cognitive function, non-specialist ecological requirements and an ability to be transported without adverse welfare effects. None of the commonest species exhibited by circuses, such as elephants and lions, currently meet these essential animal welfare criteria.

In addition, the use of exotic animals in circuses offers absolutely no value in terms of conservation, nor serves any educational purpose; especially in relation to educating children and the general public about the proper way to treat and respect animals.

I ask you to support a ban on circuses with exotic animal performances in New South Wales and look forward to hearing of your support in a reply to this correspondence.