All posts tagged Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey

Michelle Gadd, elephant expert, head of global conservation for Walters Conservation

Michelle Gadd—who heads global conservation for Walters Conservation, created and funded by philanthropists Mark and Kimbra Walter, and owner of White Oak Conservation, a 17,000-acre spread in northeastern Florida, which houses and cares for endangered and threatened species, among other animals—recounts how, at 19, she embarked on a three-month study abroad program in Africa…and ended up staying about 13 years. Read more…

Colleen Plumb, artist, photographer, and videographer

Colleen Plumb—the Chicago-based artist, photographer and videographer, whose work explores the relationships people have with animals (particularly, captive ones)—recounts growing up in the Rogers Park area of Chicago, where her Dad cultivated in her an appreciation of nature, and where there was a family dog (and for a time, a family duck, Sir Francis Drake). Read more…

Kristal Parks–a Denver-based veteran activist and elephant advocate

Kristal Parks, a Denver-based veteran activist and elephant advocate–who last year mounted a 12-day hunger strike in Denver while the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus was performing there, to call attention to the suffering of circus elephants–discusses her background as an activist, when & how she decided to focus on elephants, details of the water-only hunger strike and the attention it generated from both the media and circus-goers of all ages, Read more…