This is not a good thing.
The Circus defined human / animal interaction and provided the audience with the ability to witness wildlife close up.
I will miss my childhood.
I recall going to the circus with my son - he was maybe six at the time. There were a bunch of protestors there. He asked what they were doing, and I told him about how in America we are free to protest things we don’t like - as long as we don’t get violent.
“What are they protesting?”
“Why don’t we go ask them?”
Most of them were just yelling and stuff, and we couldn’t hold a conversation.
My son picked up on that real quick - he didn’t like it. I explained to him about how they thought the animals shouldn’t be in cages, and I explained how these were not “wild” animals - pretty much just pets. “How to you think Emily our cat would do if we just kicked it out of the house?”
Also explained how I thought the circus was good at allowing people to see different animals, and bring an awareness to the various animals of the world. I’m guessing anybody that saw those amazing big cats would be a little bit more for their conservation in the wild. I always thought it amazing what those big animals could do. “Tricks” I suppose, but showed their abilities and brain power.
Well - we still have zoos, for now. Better pricing than the circus and ours is real good at getting them in their natural habitat. Although it can be hit or miss on seeing some of the animals. “See - I think that’s its ear!”
Even now in college our kids go to the zoo once in awhile.