Circus Uses Holograms Instead of Live Animals

The circus has adapted so much with the times that a German one now uses holograms instead of live animals.

The first stage is the massive changes Germany's Roncalli circus has gone through was in 1991, when it stopped using lions and elephants in its shows due to concerns over animal welfare.

A few years ago, it went even further and stopped using animals of any kind altogether.

Circus boss Patrick Philadelphia said that "it is no longer appropriate for Roncalli to show real animals in the ring," explaining that "if you're setting up in the middle of a marketplace in the center of town, there is no space for outdoor enclosures for animal runs."

Philadelphia added that circus life was a strain for animals such as horses, which had to be put onto wagons and then driven to the next town, but "this no longer made sense for an animal-protecting circus."

Roncalli found a way to preserve the magic of animals for children by using holograms, with the idea triggered by one that features the late pop star Prince.

"If you can project someone who's no longer living onto a holographic screen, why can't you do it with an animal, a horse, an elephant? So that's where the idea came from," said Philadelphia.

However, designing the visual illusion was quite a technical challenge, because the circus seats its audience in a circle, unlike a theater where the public sits in front of the stage.

This new type of circus has an appeal to many, such as 29-year-old student Sophie Schult.

She said that previous visits to the circus with her family had left a bad impression with her, remembering that "I always saw the narrow cages where they [the animals] were all kept. That is basically animal cruelty."

Schult said that "I had never heard of Roncalli before. And then all I found out was that there were definitely no animals. That was especially important to me."

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