The residence of the exotic – Starnberg

The tiger drips, clearly. Up close you can see every speck of dirt on their fur, every drop of sweat. With a graceful gait, “lazy Max” peels himself out of his enclosure and lets himself fall with a crash at his trainer Alexander Lacey’s feet in the small open-air arena. A striped colossus in golden brown. Time for training – today as an exception in front of an audience. Now finally Max stands on his hind legs. Lacey throws him a piece of meat and calls out: “Good boy, well done! Ladies and gentlemen – lazy Max!” The crowd cheers.

The mountain scenery is Bavarian, the animals are exotic: Immediately next to the parking lot of the “Krone-Farm Weßling” – a car is a basic requirement, public transport is miserable – there is a zebra on the green meadow: You have to blink twice. Here in Wessling, well hidden in a sharp bend in a narrow street, live and train the animals that travel through Europe every summer with the Circus Krone. Founded in 1937, the Krone farm used to describe itself as a “senior citizens’ residence for elderly animals”. Today, lions, tigers, llamas, horses, zebras, ostriches and dromedaries of all ages spend their free time away from the circus tent. Since the beginning of the pandemic, more and more private visitors have been coming to the twelve-hectare facility: for guided tours, feeding predators and the historic Krone Museum, for the much-heralded giant slide or the popcorn and plush lion sales stand.

Lion droppings in jam jars are a big seller: they are supposed to drive the neighbour’s cat out of the garden

Music blares from the tree by the chip shop, which is supposed to be reminiscent of Africa: Cheerful drumming and singing in foreign languages ​​can be heard from loudspeakers. Frank Keller, the Krone team’s animal welfare officer, is waiting here: “I’m happy about the good weather and the many people, finally back after a long Corona break!” Keller is not only responsible for animal welfare, he also sells drinks at the checkout – and lion droppings in jam jars. “To drive the uninvited cat out of the garden – with a money-back guarantee!” says the label of the top seller.

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Then Keller puts on his straw hat, adjusts the microphone around his neck and calls for a tour of the site. The “caravan”, as he calls the group of visitors, wanders over green meadows and admires first the horses, then the lions and tigers – like lazy Max – and then they can become active themselves: every child can see the big cats with a fishing rod Feeding a piece of meat makes five euros per child.

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Phillip, an eight-year-old guest at Krone Farm, calls out in the line to be fed: “These are Bengal tigers! They’re very endangered. They come from Africa, or something.” Exactly – Africa, Asia, India or something. At least from far away. In fact, the crown animals are native to almost every continent on earth. So they are truly exotic, lazy Max and his friends. “The exotic nature of the animals is one of our Krone cornerstones,” says Frank Keller in an interview. But he also emphasizes the birth of individuals in captivity, or as he calls it, “in human care.” All big cats are already in the sixth to sixteenth generation at Krone.

Do demonstrations of trained lions and tigers still reflect the zeitgeist?

But can’t a circus exist today without wild animals, only with acrobatics and clowns? Do the demonstrations of trained lions and tigers still reflect the zeitgeist? “Yes, of course,” is Keller’s brief answer. “People expect that from us. And we don’t disappoint the audience’s expectations.” True to the old Krone motto: “Your favor – our striving”.

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As a final freestyle, two tigers stand on stools under Lacey’s guidance, and a lioness jumps over their heads. The crowd murmured and clapped enthusiastically. So much screaming – is it torture for the animals? Keller says: “No, they can block out the noise completely, we train them to do that: We train the animals from the age of eight months, and music and noises from the tape are gradually added during rehearsals. Only when they are two and a half years old do are they ready for performances.” And he goes on to say: “The tricks themselves are all based on the natural movements of the individuals.” However, the fact that a tiger jumps through burning hoops is neither its natural course of movement nor what is still performed with the animals in the circus these days. This old image of the circus with animals seems outdated, but Keller insists: “The animals look forward to the time of day when the trainer comes to train.” The tigers and lions can probably not confirm this anticipation themselves.

But you can ask her trainer: Alexander Lacey is a cool guy with an English accent. During the conversation, he casually leans against the tree under which the African music is blaring. Born in Britain, he is the older brother of Martin Lacey, husband of Crown heiress Jana Mandana. The two brothers come from another circus family in Great Britain. “Ever since I was five years old, Dad introduced me to tigers and lions,” says Alexander Lacey. Actually, his dream job was to be an architect. When he says “Weßling”, it doesn’t sound like the district of Starnberg, but like the hip suburb of London. “I think this farm is very important for the circus,” he says, “for fans and for skeptics.” Above all, it is important to constantly have the same trainer for an animal. “The tigers are even much older here than in the wild: Raja, our old Indian, is already 21 years old. In the wild, tigers die on average in their 12th year.” Then Alexander Lacey looks at his watch, pushes himself off the music tree, ‘Sorry, but he has to go. “Sorry, girl, gotta run!” His wife is waiting with their little son.

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The response from the public is mixed: some are enthusiastic, others think the animals belong where they come from

The Krone farm is well attended on this Whit Monday, the impression of the visitors is mostly positive: “Great. Here you can see what is behind the famous Circus Krone, what a big machine it is,” says family man Angelo C. from the district. His son Bryan, four years old, comes back from feeding predators. Are all the fingers still attached, and hasn’t lazy Max bitten off anything? “Yes, of course. He was really nice. Dad, I want a tiger too!” dad sighs. Arafat H., who is looking at the Krone farm for the first time with his daughter, is more critical: “I’ve been to Africa so often. In the steppe, that’s where tigers and lions belong.”

German animal protection regulations demand: A new veterinarian comes at every stop on the tour, and there are further controls in every city: “If my horse Ali is lame at stop 1 in Rosenheim, the doctor at stop 2 in Würzburg takes special care of horse Ali. And by Ali no longer paralyzes us, we take care of him immediately,” says Keller. Meanwhile: The criticism of the Circus Krone is increasing, which is why the control is strict. The animal protection officer speculates: “If the same standards were applied to us as to a small, less well-known traveling circus – I don’t want to know what the outcome would be.”

The conditions are strict, and Krone cannot afford an animal welfare scandal

When Frank Keller and Alexander Lacey talk about attentive animal welfare in front of the wide meadows of the Krone farm, you are almost convinced. But what does the competent authority say? What does the law say? Section 11 of the Animal Welfare Act applies: giraffes, elephants, rhinos, hippos, primates and bears must now be excluded from circuses throughout Germany. And the crown animals that are still performing – how are they? As a veterinarian at the Starnberg District Office, Stefan Gantke visits the farm in Weßling at least once a year, which is also stipulated in Paragraph 11. And? Were all the animal residents okay? “We didn’t find any defects in anyone, nothing illegal is definitely happening here. If it were otherwise, the general public would already know about it.” And he agrees with Frank Keller: “The Circus Krone is the largest circus in the world and is therefore under the magnifying glass of the public.” That means: Krone cannot afford an animal welfare scandal. “I can’t visit cattle breeders, rabbits in private children’s rooms or smaller traveling circuses as often as Krone, although atrocities might come to light there due to a lack of money and time.” And how does he feel about wild animals in the circus? Gantke becomes hesitant: “Well, I have my personal opinion – like all of us. That’s a moral question that every citizen has to answer for himself.”

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Moral and political, legal decisions meet here. Changes could be brought about on the one hand by “the slogans that the legislature specifies”, but on the other hand also by “the demands in society,” says Gantke. After all, Circus Krone is a company that wants to make a profit: “Demand determines supply.” And so the following still applies: as long as the group of visitors wants to see lazy Max on two hind legs, lazy Max has to stand on two hind legs. True to Krone’s motto: “Your favor – our striving”.