Dominque Jando

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The larger problem, in my opinion, is that banning interactions between humans and wild animals will lead to these animals being removed from our lives and placed in remote animal ghettos — since humans have encroached on their natural habitats in such a way that it makes it impossible to restore them. (The same goes for native animals such as mountain lions, wolves, bears, buffaloes, etc.). The circus plays an important part in making a connection between humans and the animal world. It shows animals as they are: big, alive, smelly, intimidating, nice, ugly, beautiful, real creatures of flesh and blood that are a rightful and necessary part of our universe. And it shows that human and animals can live together, and interact. If humans and wild animals are condemned to live apart, the latter will see their chances of survival diminish drastically.

-Dominique Jando, the former associate artistic director of the Big Apple Circus, is the editor of Circopedia.org.