Hyderabad, Dec 11 : Ever since the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests banned animals being tamed to perform in circuses except elephants and dogs, these entertaining ventures under the ''Big Top'' are starved of public patronage.

Consequent to the Government''s directives, the circus industry was compelled to hand over almost all its trained animals like the sloth bear that could ride a moped, felines (tigers and lions) which could jump through rings and a hippo to the Forest Department.

This further led to a drastic decline in public attendance. The circus management found it extremely tough to sustain the establishment.

"We just want to request to the Government to return our animals. Animals like bear, leopard and tiger used to be backbone of our circus. Without these our circus has lost its charm," said Sai Baba, owner of Great Prabhat Circus, one of the oldest and major circus troupes in India.

"Now our circus is dependent on the performances of our artistes and simple show of elephants. We have reduced our ticket prices by 50 percent for school children. Now our ticket costs somewhere around 40 rupees, it''s very difficult to maintain our troupe with such income," he added.

Many circuses have retrenched their artistes.

Despite all these negative trends, there are some loyal circus fans who always come to see the shows.

"Ban on show of animals is okay. Such shows should not be there but I am hopeful that circus definitely will be making a comeback as these talented artistes have to earn for their living," added Quadra, a circus fan. (ANI)