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UNIONDALE, New York — Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus folded up its Big Top for the last time on Sunday night in New York, as emotional performers, wistful crowd-goers and ecstatic protesters said farewell to an institution in American live entertainment after nearly a century and a half. The circus gave the final performance of "The Greatest Show on Earth" to a sold-out crowd at Nassau Coliseum, showing off its death-defying stunts and exotic animals for the last time after 146 years.

Nine circus performers were injured in a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus act at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The performers were part of an aerial act during the noon show. Witnesses on scene said scaffolding holding the performers fell more than 20 feet to the ground. A circus official tells WBZ-TV, the accident happened during a “hair hang” act, where performers hang from their hair. Eight performers were suspended above the ground, one performer was on the ground. Providence Fire Department tells WBZ NewsRadio 1030, 9 people were transported to area hospitals. The injuries included broken bones and...

November 2, 2011 - - The baseless legislation introduced today by Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) discriminatorily targets traveling circuses, including Representative Moran’s own constituent Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the largest traveling circus in the United States. The bill is designed to censor entertainment and remove the right to let the American public choose for itself whether Ringling Bros. Circus, a 141-year old American institution, can continue to operate. In this day and age, when businesses are failing, the economy is struggling and families are worried, Congressman Moran is busying himself with legislation that immediately threatens to end...

WASHINGTON, March 31, 2009 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus recently presented a $12,636 check to American Recreational Military Services to help the troop-support group ship care packages overseas to deployed servicemembers. The check included a $10,000 donation and a portion of the circus’s four opening-night proceeds from performances in New Jersey and New York earlier this month. “We had been scrambling for months to cover costs as donor fatigue and the economic decline had cut into our donations,” Ronnie Micciulla, executive director at American Recreational Military Services, said. “The average cost for shipping an individual box...

Ladies and gentlemen, step right up! You’re about to watch history unfold. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has a plan that could forever end the abuse of elephants in the world’s largest circus. PETA recently offered to provide a state-of-the art, high-tech animatronic "elephant" if the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus agrees to retire its real elephants-sparing them from painful lives in chains and servitude. The animatronic elephant would be similar to the dinosaurs currently used in the popular "Walking With Dinosaurs, the Live Experience" show that is touring the United States. Making the switch would...

FORT MYER, Va., April 7, 2008 – Children normally are told to quit clowning around, but today it was actually encouraged, as clowns from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus entertained more than 100 youngsters at the child development center here. More than 100 children from the child development center on Fort Myer, Va., enjoy a performance by members of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, April 7, 2008. These four, from left, Ryan Cline, 2, Madeline Fontana, 5, Jaylen Wright, 4, and Liam Ryan, 4, got a chance to be part of the action. Photo by...

NEW YORK (AP) -- With their colorful headgear and repertoire of tricks, they're top-billed stars of The Greatest Show on Earth. But away from the arena, the Asian elephants used in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus are at the heart of perhaps the most bitter animal-care fight around, one that's dragged through court for six years already and is inching toward a trial. It's a heavyweight bout, pitting America's biggest circus against some of the most influential animal-welfare groups. Ringling insists that its elephants receive state-of-the-art treatment and it's determined to keep them in its cast. Its...

The Asian elephants used in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus are at the heart of perhaps the most bitter animal-care fight around, one that's dragged through court for six years already and is inching toward a trial. Its adversaries - a group including the Humane Society of the United States, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Animal Welfare Institute - argue vehemently that circus life is inherently cruel to the elephants. They allege that the use of sharpened hooks by trainers, the routine use of chains, the separation of baby elephants...

WASHINGTON, April 27, 2006 – The circus came to town today in the outdoor center courtyard of the military's headquarters. Ringling Brothers Circus clowns Christina (left) and Martha lead a group of military officers through a comic balancing exercise during a Pentagon event in recognition of National Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day April 27. Photo by Lexi Rhem   Clowns and other performers with Ringling Brothers Circus brought a lesson of fitness and support for the military to dozens of children accompanying their Pentagon-based parents for the National Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day observance....

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2006 – Corporate support for the nation's troops means a lot, especially to their families, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here last night as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus began its annual series of performances in the nation's capital. America Supports You welcomed Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus as a corporate member during a kickoff ceremony. Michael Richter, a clown with the circus, poses in front of an ASY sign before the show in downtown Washington, D.C., March 29. Photo by Paul X. Rutz  (Click photo for screen-resolution...

Fairfax, Va. -- A $1.8 million lawsuit accusing a circus boss of a spy campaign against animal-rights groups was rejected by jurors Wednesday. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals had brought the civil lawsuit against Kenneth Feld, the president of Vienna, Va.-based Feld Entertainment, which owns the Ringling Bros. circus and numerous other high-profile entertainment acts, including Disney on Ice. The lawsuit contended Feld and other company executives stole sensitive documents and wiretapped the activities of Norfolk-based PETA and other groups. Feld said after the verdict that PETA's accusation "flies in the face of logic."

The Ringling Bros. circus infiltrated animal rights groups, stole sensitive internal documents and illegally wiretapped circus opponents as part of a national conspiracy to disrupt animal rights groups, a lawyer told a Fairfax County, Va., jury Monday. The allegations by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals launched a trial five years in the making. It also culminates a lengthy legal battle between PETA and Kenneth Feld, whose family has owned the circus for nearly 40 years. During opening statements, PETA accused Feld of overseeing the espionage campaign against it and other animal rights organizations. Feld's attorney responded that infiltrating...

Circus Animals Inside, Protests Outside Fla. group dogs Ringling Bros., claiming elephants are mistreated.Bryan Wilson of the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, left, and Dale Beaubien of Lakeland protest the treatment of elephants by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus outside The Lakeland Center on Saturday. LAKELAND -- The clown in the bright red wig waving at passing cars Saturday afternoon was not trying to direct people to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus show at The Lakeland Center. Bryan Wilson was holding up a large picture of an elephant's leg with a chain on it....

FAIRFAX, Va. - A judge issued sanction Thursday against the owner of Ringling Bros. circus for filing late and incomplete documents in a lawsuit that claims that the owner had established a spy operation against animal-rights groups. The judge also ordered Kenneth Feld, chief executive and president of privately held Feld Entertainment Inc., to disclose his net worth and his most recent tax returns to PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. PETA sued Feld Entertainment more than four years ago, claiming that he ran an extensive corporate espionage campaign against it and other animal-rights groups. According to PETA,...

You just have to love the pic of the high diver. I hope he survived.

<p>NEW YORK — A high-wire circus daredevil miraculously cheated death yesterday after plummeting 30 feet to the ground before a crowd of thousands of screaming kids and parents at Madison Square Garden.</p> <p>Ringling Bros. (search) tightrope walker Hernando Rangel, 34, was rushed to St. Vincent's Hospital (search) still wearing his sequined leotard after the horrifying fall, the equivalent of three stories, police and circus officials said.</p>

<p>The nation's largest circus will have to defend itself against charges that it mistreats elephants that perform under the big tent.</p> <p>A federal judge has declined to dismiss a lawsuit by animal welfare groups claiming Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has abused Asian elephants in violation of the Endangered Species Act.</p>