Germany: Circus zebra escapes and is shot

Part of PETA's motto is: Animals are not here for our entertainment or to be exploited by us in any way. The organization calls for a blanket ban on animals in circuses and opposes speciesism — a worldview that regards humans as superior to all other living beings.

Editorial team Wild beim Wild — 3 October 2019

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, two zebras broke out of the Barlay Circus, which is currently performing in Tessin. After a local resident alerted the police, one of the animals was caught and returned. The second zebra strayed onto the A20 motorway and caused an accident, though no one was injured. Around midday, the zebra was shot near Liepen after police were unable to catch it.

Just last week, a camel escaped from the circus during its engagement in Dargun. Last year, a tiger at Barlay Circus attacked two animal trainers. PETA points out that accidents and escapes occur repeatedly in circus operations, putting people and animals at risk of injury or death. The animal rights organization is calling for a nationwide ban on wild animals in circuses.

«The escape of the zebras from Barlay Circus is further proof that circuses can neither house wild animals safely nor in a species-appropriate manner — one of the zebras was even killed during the chase. Wild animals have no place in the circus, and it is high time they were finally banned from circuses nationwide», says Dr. Yonne Würz, biologist and PETA's expert adviser on animals in the entertainment industry.

Germany lags behind in protecting circus animals

Hundreds of wild animals are still transported across Germany, kept in inadequate conditions, and forced with whips or other methods to perform unnatural «tricks». PETA criticises the position of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, which is the only party in the Bundestag to fundamentally block a ban on wild animals in circuses.

In addition to the Federal Chamber of Veterinarians the Federal Council has already spoken out three times in favor of a ban on certain animal species in circuses. In its 2016 resolution calling for a ban on wild animals in circuses, it pointed to the danger posed: «Furthermore, the increasing number of incidents involving the aforementioned animal species and escapes by circus animals are striking, repeatedly endangering the public as well.» The upper house sees one reason for this in the fact that the «actually necessary installation of enclosures that are sufficiently large, escape-proof, and species-appropriate conflicts with the need for constant mobility».

Moreover, the state agriculture ministers reaffirmed their demand to the federal government for regulation as recently as April. According to a representative Forsa survey from May 2014, 82 percent of Germans also take the view that wild animals cannot be kept in a species-appropriate manner in circuses. In 27 European countries, such as Belgium, Austria, and the Netherlands, certain or all animal species are already no longer permitted in circuses.