Ringling Brothers Elephant Sanctuary Florida
The Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation is no more, and most of the elephants held there will be sent to an accredited facility to recover. The Center for Elephant Conservation (CEC) was a breeding farm and retirement facility for elephants in Polk City, Florida, operating from 1995-2021.
The CEC was solely sponsored by Feld Entertainment, the holding company which operated the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus [1] from the 1960s until 2017. Just beginning in the spring, the first 12 animals in the herd have been sent to a conservation center just south of the Florida-Georgia line.
In 1995, Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus opened the facility for the breeding, Research, and retirement of its Asian Elephant Herd, located on 200 acres located in Polk County (central Florida), between Tampa and Orlando. About 30 Asian elephants previously used in Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performances will move to the White Oak Conservation Center in Florida next year.
The majority of the Ringling Bros. elephants, specifically the Asian elephants, went to the Center for Elephant Conservation when the circus discontinued elephant acts. A group of 35 elephants, formerly part of the Ringling Bros Circus, have been given a new lease on life in a verdant habitat at Floridas White Oak Conservation Center.
Around 30 Asian elephants, who once unwillingly performed for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, will soon permanently relocate to the safety and comfort of the newly-constructed White Oak Conservation sanctuary near Jacksonville, Fla. The Ringling Bros.
Center for Elephant Conservation sits on 200 acres of land in rural central Florida, halfway between Orlando and Sarasota, off a nondescript country road. A pair of retired elephants stands together in 2016 at Ringling Bros. 200-acre Center for Elephant Conservation in Polk City, Florida.
