Illinois, United States. Governor JB Pritzker signed HB 4255 into law, banning the use of lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, cougars, bears and primates in circuses and traveling shows throughout the state.
The measure expands the elephant ban that Illinois had already imposed in 2017, when it became the first state in the country to make that decision. It now becomes the eighth state to also ban these other species, closing the legal loopholes that still allowed their exploitation.
Behind the signing are more than 100 dangerous incidents recorded over recent decades involving circus animals in the United States: three deaths and more than 100 injuries, at least 50 of them children.
The bill, promoted by Humane World for Animals together with the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Brookfield Zoo, had bipartisan support and took effect on July 1. Should the use of animals in circuses around the world be banned?
