Center For Elephant Conservation
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The Center for Elephant Conservation (CEC) is a breeding farm and retirement facility for
elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...
s in
Polk City, Florida Polk City is a city in Polk County, Florida, Polk County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Lakeland, Florida, Lakeland–Winter Haven, Florida, Winter Haven Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, metropolitan s ...
, opened in 1995. The CEC is solely sponsored by
Feld Entertainment Feld Entertainment Inc. is an American live show production company which owns a number of traveling shows. The company began with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus before expanding into additional live events, including Disney on ...
, the
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...
which operated the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from the 1960s until 2017.


Role and location

The CEC is the largest
Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living ''Elephas'' species. It is the largest living land animal in Asia and the second largest living Elephantidae, elephantid in the world. It is char ...
gene pool The gene pool is the set of all genes, or genetic information, in any population, usually of a particular species. Description A large gene pool indicates extensive genetic diversity, which is associated with robust populations that can survi ...
outside of the
Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...
since traditional zoos usually have, on average, only a handful of elephants. Parent company Feld Entertainment publicizes the facility as a gathering place for researchers of elephant behavior and conservation. The center loans both elephants and
semen Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is a bodily fluid that contains spermatozoon, spermatozoa which is secreted by the male gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphrodite, hermaphroditic animals. In humans and placen ...
to zoos and cooperative breeding programs around the world. Between the traveling circuses and the center, the herd consists of more than 70 elephants. When the center opened, it was home to 27 elephants, including four studs and six babies. As of 2010, there were a claimed 23 births at the center, most recently a female the staff has named April. Although the facility is a largely undisturbed natural habitat in which some elephants are permitted to graze and stroll, many of the elephants at the facility are kept confined and chained in cement barns. Photos of the facility and staff training newborn elephants became public after the death of a former Conservation Center employee, Sam Haddock. Outsiders are divided on what the center means for elephants, calling it, alternately, "a stark, sterile-looking place, with … little evident enrichment", "wonderful", "the leading elephant-breeder in the Americas", and an "elephant puppy mill". In 2014, Feld Entertainment won $25.2 million in settlements from a number of animal-rights groups, including the
Humane Society of the United States Humane World for Animals, formerly the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Humane Society International (HSI), is a global nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scop ...
, ending a 14-year legal battle over unproven allegations that Ringling circus employees mistreated elephants. The initial lawsuit was filed in 2000 by a former Ringling barn helper who was later found to have been paid at least $190,000 by the animal-rights groups that helped bring the lawsuit. The judge called him "essentially a paid plaintiff" who lacked credibility and standing to sue. The judge rejected the abuse claims following a 2009 trial.


Health record

In 1999, the center failed a
USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...
inspection under the Animal Welfare Act due to its restraint policy. At least one case of tuberculosis was noted at this time. An action over these issues was stated in a local court against the Center in June 2000. The action was brought by the
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization's mission is "to provide effective mea ...
, the Animal Protection Institute, the
Animal Welfare Institute The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is an American non-profit charitable organization founded by Christine Stevens in 1951 with the goal of reducing suffering inflicted on animals by humans. It is one of the oldest animal welfare organizations in ...
, the Fund for Animals, and Tom Rider, a former employee of Ringling Bros. In late 2009, the suit was dismissed by the courts because it was ruled that the plaintiffs, ASPCA et al., as private citizens, were not allowed to bring suit against Feld Entertainment under the Endangered Species Act due to being "uninjured" by the acts in question. Although citizens' right to file suit under the act is stipulated in the act, the court did not allow it. The court did not rule on the merits of the case, nor the video footage documenting severe hooking of elephants on Ringling show units. Various legal scholars have disputed the legal rigor of this ruling. Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey publicists claim victory and have focused their defense on questioning the motives of whistle-blower Tom Rider and his relationship to animal welfare groups. In 2003 and 2004, Conservation Center publicists announced that the Center had been given a clean bill of health by USDA inspectors. In 2006, the Center was quarantined for a case of TB. Only one animal in the herd appears to have been affected. Ringling Brothers asserts retired circus elephants living at the center have an average lifespan of up to 70 years, although they also list the oldest elephants to die at the facility as 55 and 62 years of age. A number of juvenile elephants have also died in Ringling possession, not at the facility, but while on tour with a Ringling Brothers show. It is likely elephants at Ringling's Florida Center may live longer than captive elephants in zoos, who live an average of 42 years, although not as long as wild elephants who, if protected from
poaching Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the huntin ...
, can typically live up to 65 or 70 years.Ros Clubb, Marcus Rowcliffe, Phyllis Lee, Khyne U. Mar, Cynthia Moss, Georgia J. Mason, “Compromised Survivorship in Zoo Elephants", ''Science'' 322, no. 598 (December 12, 2008): 1649 *


References


External links


Official site
{{Feld Entertainment Animal charities based in the United States Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Charities based in Florida Elephant conservation organizations Environmental organizations based in Florida Wildlife rehabilitation and conservation centers 1995 establishments in Florida