Colorado Parks and Wildlife Denies Elephant Show Permit at Renaissance Festival
Festival officials say they will appeal the permit denial under the state’s ban on noneducational traveling animal acts.
Overview
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife cited the 2021 Colorado Traveling Animal Protection Act in refusing a permit for Trunks and Humps’ elephant performance at the festival.
- Attorneys with the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project threatened litigation to enforce the misdemeanor ban on elephants and other species in traveling shows.
- Cornell University elephant behaviorist Michael Pardo and other welfare experts backed the decision, arguing that forced tricks under bull hook coercion violate natural behaviors.
- Trunks and Humps owner Bill Swain denies cruelty allegations and points to regular USDA inspections of his decades-old Texas-based operation.
- Jim Paradise, vice president of the festival, said organizers will seek state guidance to understand the decision and explore restoring the elephant show in future seasons.