Ringling's last 11 touring elephants retire to Florida

In this Friday, Jan. 8, 2016 photo, a young Asian elephant named April belonging to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, plays with tires in her enclosure outside the American Airlines Arena in Miami. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum &... (Copyright by WSLS - All rights reserved)

The last 11 of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus' touring elephants are officially retired, and enjoyed a buffet brunch of carrots, apples, celery, loaves of bread and lots of hay to celebrate.

Circus spokesman Stephen Payne said the touring elephants arrived at the 200-acre Center for Elephant Conservation in central Florida on Friday morning.

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They join 29 others who are already at the center.

Feld Entertainment, which owns the circus, has a herd of 40 Asian elephants, the largest in North America. It will continue a breeding program and the animals will be used in a pediatric cancer research project.

Elephants have been used in that iconic circus in America for more than 200 years.

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