Circus animals happier than wild, say Vladivostok trainers

Starting 7 February, the Vladivostok Circus hosts the tour of the «Chocolate Factory» show (0+) — albino Bengal tigers and trained monkeys will take to the arena. VLADIVOSTOK1.RU spoke with trainers Alisa Nesterova and Sergey Streletsky about how animals really live and responsible animal care in the circus.

Bengal tiger trainer Alisa Nesterova emphasized that all their big cats are born and raised in captivity. They were not caught in the wild, and care is based not on punishment but on training and constant work with the animal«s psyche.

“We rehearse not only what we show in the arena. We constantly learn new tricks — thus creating new neural connections. Our animals are very intelligent, very smart, and all their basic needs are met, as much as possible,” the trainer said.

According to her, in the wild, a predator has neither safety nor stability, no time for development.

“There, the single thought is how to survive. And they usually do not live long. In reserves, if mental activity is not stimulated, we encounter stereotypical behavior — animals simply go crazy,” noted Alisa Nesterova.

In the circus, she assured, everything is different: 24/7 monitoring, medical care, training, attention and constant communication: “If all basic needs are met and the animal feels comfortable and happy — why not?”

The trainer stated that for their troupe, tigers are not a working tool, not «program numbers», but literally a family, a part of life.

“Why should we separate people and animals who are family to us? My mother delivered tiger cubs. They are our children, beloved. You cannot imagine how much time we spend with them from morning to evening,” Nesterova admitted.

Alisa called herself a nervous mother for the Bengal tigers: “I have cameras everywhere, filter systems, I carry everything with me. We have round-the-clock monitoring. Serezha (the second trainer. — Ed.) even comes to check on the animals at night. It depends on the person.”

“Nikolai Drozdov himself said many times: in the circus, animals live longer. Because they are busy with things that interest them, they have an emotional component from communicating with humans,” joined the conversation monkey trainer and technical director of the program Sergey Streletsky.

According to Streletsky, learning new things in captivity directly affects the animal«s health. As proof, he cited specific numbers. In the wild, macaques live on average 12–14 years, in zoos 14–16, and in their circus over 30.

“The previous group of monkeys lived to 33. One at 31 was still working — juggling rings. Yes, we reduced physical load, but he was a true maestro of the arena,” says Streletsky.

Both interlocutors emphasized: in the circus, they try to avoid the very word «training» because it implies drill — commands like «sit», «lie down». The most valuable thing in their work for Alisa and Sergey is finding a common language with the animal.

“The most interesting thing for us is when you take a little creature from nature and learn to communicate with it so that it understands what you want from it and does it,” noted the trainer.

Sometimes the animals themselves became co-authors of the acts. Streletsky said that his charges would sometimes do things their own way, even mock the trainer jokingly, and this turned into an element of the show.

“We cannot leave for several days. It«s treatment, care, walks, constant monitoring. But in this regard, we are happy people. We watch over our pets around the clock, work with them — and even get paid for it,” summarized Sergey.