Photo by Paula Merritt / The Meridian StarBranson Spence, left, Ray Bartley and Wyatt Spence enjoy a ride on an elephant at the Garden Bros. Circus Tuesday at the Lauderdale County Agri-Center.

When Beverly Morgan brought her sons, Vince and Mick, to the Garden Bros. Circus in Meridian Monday, the main attraction was the elephants. 

“When we heard this might be the last time to see the elephants perform in Meridian we were very sad,” Beverly Morgan said. “That’s the main reason we come.”

Her sons agreed. 

“I really hope they don’t get rid of them because that is what most of the kids want to see,” Vince Morgan said. “It’s sad and I hope it’s not the last time,” said Mick Morgan.

“It’s sad and I hope it’s not the last time,” said Mick Morgan.

Pressure from animal rights groups and lawmakers has prompted some circuses to retire the pachyderms and other exotic animals from their acts.

But Habib Omar, a fifth generation circus trainer from Argentina, says people have the wrong idea. 

“I don’t want to be part of the controversy, because no matter what I have to say there will alway be people who will say we are doing it in a different way,” Omar said. “The elephants are very well taken care of. They get more visits from the doctor than we do.”

Omar said the elephants will be used in the show as long as the United States Department of Agriculture allows them to. 

“It makes the children happy to see the elephants,” Omar said. “I grew up with animals and see them as my pets. They are very attached to me. If they were mistreated they wouldn’t trust me or want to be next to me.”

Omar said elephants are very intelligent. One of his roles is to train two of the elephants, Bonnie and Libby, with treats.

“The first thing I do is teach them to trunk up when they are babies,” Omar said. “Then you introduce them to treats – when they do something good, you give them something in return.

“You raise a child happy and they will be a happy person, elephants will be the same. You treat them with love and give them what they like. When it’s time to train reward them with what they love.”

Circus-goers Elizabeth Crudup and Ella Dahlke were both excited to see the elephants.

“I have never been to the circus but I am excited about seeing the elephants,” Crudup said.

“I came to see the elephants again but I want to see the camels too,” Dahlke said. “I’m really going to be sad if this is the last time that I get to see the elephants.”

The circus is the only place some children are exposed to animals such as an elephant or camel, Omar said.

“Children love the circus, and there are so many places where there isn’t a zoo close by,” he said. “For some people who want to stop us from showing them, I just don’t understand.”