Jumbo payment for homeless elephants. State to pay circuses 11 million kroner

It’s nice when the government cares about animals. It’s lovely when the government pays attention to circuses, which not without good reason are known for being harsh to animals. It sucks when the government spends millions of public money on a few elephants.

The Danish government decided to save four circus elephants which became so-to-say retired and were destined for the scrapheap. There is going to be started a tender process aimed to choose a zoo which will be a new home for the elderly performers. A good deed, we say. Too much unreasonable spending, Danish tax-payers say.

The current owners of the animals asked for a staggering sum of eleven million kroner, and the Ministry of the Environment and Food agreed to pay so much. And the named amount of money is four million bigger than the original offer for Rambolina, Lara, Djungla, and Jenny. These are the names of the elephants, just in case.

Application process
So this is how it’s supposed to happen. The Ministry of Environment and Food is ready to give the unfortunate but not fortunate animals to a zoo for free. The zoo, which will be chosen during the application process, must prove that it can offer the elephants the highest level of welfare. At least it means the authorities do care about the eleven million spent on elephants and expect them not to be wasted.

The process of selection is expected to take from four to eight months. Meanwhile, the animals will be handed over to Dyrenes Beskyttelse. This is a voluntary association that safeguards animals’ rights and safety.

Possible ban on the cards

Mogens Jensen, the food minister, in his commentary on the situation, praises the co-operation with the circuses and Dyrenes Beskyttelse. Admitting that, he also opened the cards and unveiled his plans to submit a bill to Parliament soon to ban the use of wild animals in circuses.

One of the zoos that think of accepting the elephants and giving them a chance to spend their retirement in decent conditions is Knuthenborg Safaripark. The park owns a territory of 440 hectares and has more than enough space to place add four elephants to their dwellers. It has already investigated how it would be possible to allow animals to retire in the Safaripark.

Benny Berdino, the head of Cirkus Arena, expressed hope that the four honored artists could “enjoy their retirement” once the proper zoo was chosen.