The use of wild animals in traveling circuses has declined dramatically due to welfare legislation and public pressure, but significant problems remain.
Wild animals in circuses experience chronic stress from travel, confinement, forced performance, and inability to express natural behaviors. Training that once relied on pain-based methods is difficult to monitor. Even circuses using positive reinforcement cannot compensate for the fundamental welfare deficits of circus life. The transition to animal-free entertainment models is nearly complete in Europe.