The little boy with
the big cat: Heartwarming photos show life behind the scenes at Australia's
biggest animal circus
- Three-year-old Braxton
West-Smith is the latest member of Stardust Circus
- The trainee lion tamer
travels across Australia with his family and animals
- But there are increasing
calls in the country to ban animal acts in circuses
By
Damien Gayle
PUBLISHED:| UPDATED:
Some children have a little pet cat - but Braxton West-Smith
has a little big cat to play with.
The three-year-old trainee lion tamer is of the latest
generation to join Australia's family-run Stardust Circus.
His best furry friend is an African lion cub called Zimbi,
who will one day take his place under the lights of the big top too.
Stardust is Australia's largest animal circus, in an era
where the use of animals in such spectacles is increasingly under scrutiny.
Travelling across the vast country, from outback towns to
coastal cities, they carry with them performing animals including lions,
monkeys, horses and miniature trick ponies.
They insist they only use the most humane techniques to
train their beasts.
'Our animals have been trained with the reward method, and
are treated as part of this large family,' says the Stardust website.
As these pictures show, baby animals are treated little
different from baby humans by the family-run circus.
Zimbi shares breakfast and playtime with his young human handlers,
they train together and, at the end of a long, tiring day, he has his own -
rather scratched - armchair to relax in.
But how long such an existence will continue is uncertain,
as opposition to animals in circuses grows in Australia.
Thirty animal activists turned up to a performance of
Stardust Circus in Dingley Village, Victoria, just three days ago, and the
popularity of groups in the country which opposes animal acts seems to be on
the rise.
Rules about circuses vary from state to state, with most
requiring owners to apply for permission to exhibit their animals.
Nevertheless, an activist speaking on an Australian animal
rights forum about a visit to Stardust Circus found little evidence that their
creatures were being mistreated.
Rana Hales of the Caroline Springs Animal Welfare Network
said the owner Janice Lennon was more than happy to show her and a fellow
activist around their camp site.
'On seeing the animals, they all appeared to be well fed and
watered,' she said in the 2009 forum post, before going into details about the
manner in which the creatures were kept.
But little Braxton isn't thinking about the possible future
legal environment surrounding his family trade - he just wants to follow in the
footsteps of his forebears.
'When I grow up, I think I'll train the goats,' he said. 'I
want to be just like dad.'
Braxton's father trains most of the animals at Stardust
Circus. His mother performs with the ponies, and also on the trapeze.
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