Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Presents Legends. Feb. 11-16. $15-$155. Philips Arena, 1 Philips Drive, Atlanta. Feb. 19-March 1. $25-$100. Gwinnett Arena, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth. Ticket prices do not include Ticketmaster fees. 1-800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com.
Lions will always be kings of the jungle. Yet, unlike the big cats he performs with, Alexander Lacey didn’t have a title waiting for him.
Lacey, touring with his troupe of lions and tigers as part of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, made his own choice to enter the family business. Although he grew up in a circus brood known for raising 11 generations of lions and nine generations of tigers, he said his parents never pushed him into the center ring.
When he returned home on holiday from boarding school as a teen, his folks would allow him to help out. The deal played out like this: If Lacey wanted to perform with big cats one day, he’d have to swallow his pride. This translated into starting with a slew of not-so-glamorous tasks, from cleaning the cats’ habitat to feeding and watering. But even after that Lacey still had the bug.
Today, he goes all over the globe with his awarding-winning, unique mix of tigers and lions showing off side by side. Lacey recently talked about the act. …
On what appeals to him most about working with big cats:
“They’re beautiful animals, and they all have their individual characters. Some cats you can get really close to, and you can have a really great bond with them. You can kiss and cuddle some of them, tickle their bellies, roll around on the floor and play with them. Other cats, you can’t get within 3 feet of them, because they just don’t want you close to them. That’s not because they’re bad cats; that’s just their character. But that intrigues me. I love the fact that you can get so close to some and have to keep a distance from others, but you can still work with and perform alongside them. … My male African lion, Masai, weighs 800 pounds, and every single one of my cats could break an antelope’s neck with one blow from their paw. But they accept me as a friend. To be able to get so close to such a huge, magnificent, potentially dangerous animal is a great feeling. To be accepted as one of them is wonderful.”
On criticism from animal rights activists:
“On the whole continent of Africa, there are only 22,000 lions left, which is absolutely nothing for such a huge (area). Their tiger numbers are even more pathetic than that. And, because of my family’s efforts and hard work, we’ve actually been able to breed more than 400 big cats. That’s 400 big cats that wouldn’t be around. All of the animals are born and bred here in the circus. They’re in the best possible condition they can be. They live very long, healthy lives. The average age for a lion or tiger in the wild is about 12 years for a male and a little older for a female. And all of our cats live to be in their mid-20s. So it says a lot for their health and the care we provide for them. … I wouldn’t find it fun having to work with animals if I thought I was being cruel in any way. I wouldn’t do it, simple as that. If I wasn’t in the circus, I’d still work with big cats in one way or another. I don’t do what I do for the spotlight. I do what I do because I love the big cats.”
On the dangers of his job:
“I suppose the best way to compare it would be to NASCAR. Racing teams spend millions of dollars making the safest possible cars so the least amount of injury is going to occur to a driver. So you minimize the risk as much as you can. It’s the same in our job as well. And, just like NASCAR, occasionally something happens, a freak accident or something unavoidable goes wrong. I have to say, up until now, touch wood, my brother, my father and myself have all been working with big cats, and we’ve never had a serious accident. We never force animals to perform when they don’t want to. If I have a big cat that’s having a bad day, the people in the audience won’t know that there’s a cat missing. … If you’re not there every day caring for the animals, being around them and assessing them each morning, it can be very dangerous.”
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