Whirling Bros circus performs for the first time at the fair

Press, 19 August 1982, Page 16

Whirling Bros circus performs for the first time at the fair

The major feature of the wide range of entertainment for the 1982 New Zealand Industries Fair — Superfair — is Whirling Bros circus, performing for the first time at the fair.

This major free attraction will be performed each afternoon and evening, providing a fully 30 to 40-minute circus performance on Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesdays. at 3.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m.; Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, at 2 p.m., 3.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m.; and Sundays, at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. The circus has 40 animals, including lions, baboons, monkeys, • chimpanzees, camels,, donkeys, Appaloosa horses, ponies, dogs and an African elephant. The sight acts include:. Markus, a top-line juggler and baldncer; Michelje, single trapeze artist, and

who has no opposition in this country; Jimmy Jeff, international slackwire 'and juggler. Of special interest to children will be Whirling Bros African elephant, JumboJumbo, who was bom in Kenya. Her mother was shot by poachers for her ivory tusks. In 1979 Jumbo-Jumbo went to a children's zoo in the United States. She stayed there until 1976, when she was flown to the Honolulu Zoo. In 1977 she was flown by Jumbo jet to Australia, and then on to New Zealand. To move Jumbo-Jumbo around to various circus venues, Whirling Bros Circus had to build a special trailer costing $20,000.

Jumbo-Jumbo is 3.65 m high, weighs 6 tonnes, has 1.82 m tusks and huge ears; she eats a bale of hay, a 13kg

sack of carrots, apples and fruits, and 13kg of vegetables a day. Each foot is 0.6 m in diameter, and its strength is

equal to that of 150 meh. Jumbo-Jumbo is the only performing elephant in Australia and New Zealand.