UNITED STATES
Cathalina Liebel, descendant of a 16th-century circus family, dangles from the mouth of her family’s African elephant, Nosey, during a performance at the Great American Family Circus in Mattoon, Illinois. Nosey is at the center of a growing campaign against the Liebels’ circus, at which the U.S. Department of Agriculture has found numerous animal welfare violations. Many of those violations relate to poor treatment of Nosey, including a lack of veterinary care, tight confines, and poor feeding.
This photo originally published in “The Death of One of the Oldest Shows on Earth,” in May 2017.
PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN LEHMANN