circuses aren't for the animals

Surprise, surprise - researchers have found that wild animals don't do well in circuses. They don't get the right kinds of activity to keep them healthy and happy, they don't have the right kind of environmental stimuli and conditions or the right social interaction, and travel is detrimental to their overall well-being.

To be fair, this article, though posted at New Scientist, comes from a journal titled Animal Welfare, so it's bound to be more favourable to this kind of assessment. But that doesn't mean the research - from the University of Bristol - isn't valid. Such conclusions have been persuasive enough for Austria to ban the use of wild animals in circuses apparently, though other countries have been slow to follow suit.

Cirque de Soleil's more to my taste anyway, if not my budget...