Stardust Travelling Circus has recently announced it will no longer be using exotic wild animals such as monkeys and big cats in it’s performances going forward. We spoke with Emily Rice from PETA Australia and unpacked what this decision means for the future of wild animals welfare in Australia.

Have you ever been to the circus? Maybe not recently but when you were much younger? Do you perhaps have memories of some wild animals performing at the circus? Monkeys, lions, tigers?

One of Australia’s largest travelling circuses, Stardust Circus has finally retired its use of exotic animals in it’s shows after travelling the lengths and breadths of Australia with an assortment of lions and monkeys in recent years. 

So what does this mean for the future of animal welfare for exotic animals in the future? And has a precedent been set now that disparages any one individual or organisation training wild animals to “perform” in a similar way? 

Emily Rice, the Senior Outreach and Partnerships Manager from PETA Australia joined us on Monday Drive to discuss this.