Circus declines mayor's help offer

Circus declines mayor's help offer

MANILA (AFP): A Russian circus troupe stranded in a southern Philippine city has declined an offer by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim to house its starving animals at the zoo in the Philippine capital, the official Philippine News Agency (PNA) said yesterday.

Boris Fedotov, head of the Russian All-Star Circus, said the animals -- two elephants, seven bears, three camels, four llamas and a puma -- were trained for the circus and not meant for the zoo.

"I am very grateful to Mayor Lim but I cannot accede to it," the PNA quoted Fedotov as saying. One llama died last week, the report added.

The animals arrived in the Philippines in July 1994 for a series of performances but the circus troupe was abandoned in the southern city of Davao after one of its financiers backed out. Since then, the troupe has relied on donations and even set up a mini-zoo in an empty lot in order to raise money.