After 146 years and having entertained generations of Americans, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus gave its final performance Sunday night. </s> The famed Ringling Bros. circus announces plans to shut down operations after 146 years in operation. The news comes from Feld Entertainment, the company that has owned the circus for the last 50 years.

“I have made the difficult business decision that Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey will hold its final performances in May of this year,” CEO Kenneth Feld said.

There are several reason why the company is stopping performances. A rise in operating costs, changing public tastes along with extensive battles with animal rights groups, and a major decline in attendance over the last decade are all to blame.

The circus is currently on a North American tour. The final shows will be in Providence, Rhode Island, on May 7th and in Uniondale, New York, at the Nassau County Coliseum on May 21st. </s> ELLENTON, Fla.—After 146 years, the curtain is coming down on “The Greatest Show on Earth.”

The show will close forever in May, the owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus said. </s> After more than 100 years of operation, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus will hold its final performances in May of this year. Kenneth Feld, CEO of Feld Entertainment, which has owned the circus for the past 50 years said the decline of ticket sales, compounded by the high operating costs “made the circus an unsustainable business for the company.”

The phasing out of elephants contributed to the massive decline of sales. Their choreographed dance routines were once a staple and spotlight of the circus, although criticism from animal rights activists forced the circus to phase out elephant acts altogether. Although Ringling Bros. runs a 200 acre elephant conversation center, and have made efforts to take better care of their animals, the Humane Society of the United States acknowledge the effort, but feels the circus did not take action soon enough. The Human Society’s President and CEO Wayne Pacelle said in a statement, “It’s just not acceptable any longer to cart wild animals from city to city and have them perform silly yet coercive stunts. I know this is bittersweet for the Feld family, but I applaud their decision to move away from an institution grounded on inherently inhumane wild animal acts.”

The circus currently has two tours on the road right now. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Presents Circus XTREME will finish in Providence, R.I., on May 7, 2017, and the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Presents Out Of This World will conclude in Uniondale, N.Y., on May 21, 2017.

The full statement from Feld Entertainment CEO, Kenneth Feld, can be read HERE. </s> The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus that has wowed crowds for nearly 150 years with its “Greatest Show on Earth,” before facing increasingly intense controversy over its use of live large animals, is taking its final bow Sunday night.

The last of three scheduled shows Sunday at the Nassau County Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, is sold out. The circus’s final show will be broadcast live on Facebook and streamed on YouTube.

Ringling’s parent company, Feld Entertainment, announced in January it would close the production, citing declining attendance and high operating costs.

Although it retired its elephants in May 2016, Ringling Bros continued to include tigers, lions, horses, dogs and camels in its shows until the end, despite criticism from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and others.

Fewer than 40,000 Asian elephants remain in the wild. About 250 are in captivity in the United States, 26 of which were born in the past 20 years at Ringling facilities, Reuters reported.

Feld Entertainment’s Kenneth Feld said Sunday that while he is sad about closing the production, he feels the performers are energized to “go out on top,” the Associated Press said.

This circus had a legacy that stretched back to the legendary 19th century showman P.T. Barnum. Feld’s father and uncle bought the circus in 1967. It was sold to Mattel MAT, +0.32% in 1971, but the Feld family continued to manage the shows. The Felds bought the circus back in 1982. </s> The Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus will end “The Greatest Show on Earth” in May, following a 146-year run. Kenneth Feld, the chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment, which owns the circus, told media declining attendance combined with high operating costs are among the reasons for closing.

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Feld said when the company removed the elephants from the shows in May of 2016, ticket sales declined more dramatically than expected. The company broke the news to circus employees Saturday night after shows in Orlando and Miami.

Ringling Bros has two touring circuses this season and will perform 30 shows between now and May. The final shows will be in Providence, Rhode Island, on May 7 and in Uniondale, New York, at the Nassau County Coliseum on May 21. </s> NEW YORK — The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus took entertained audience Sunday night for its final show ever.

The show — performed in Uniondale, New York — comes after months after the circus owners announced it would be bring the curtain down on its performers. According to CNN, high costs and declining ticket sales led to shut down.

The show had a tough time bouncing back after the show was forced to phase out its famous elephant performance due to harsh criticism from animal rights group.

More than 146 years of dazzling audiences, the Ringling Brothers circus will still go down as "The Greatest Show on Earth." </s> An elephant souvenir is on sale on the final day of the Ringling Bros Barnum and Bailey Circus on May 21, 2017 in Uniondale, New York. Known as "The Greatest Show on Earth", the circus performed its final act after a 146 year run. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) </s> Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus said late Saturday it would deliver its final performance in May, shutting down after a nearly century-and-a-half run as “The Greatest Show on Earth.”

The iconic American show will end after 146 years, succumbing to numerous obstacles in recent years such as rising operating costs, falling attendance and mounting criticism from animal rights groups.

“Ringling Bros. ticket sales have been declining, but following the transition of the elephants off the road, we saw an even more dramatic drop,” said Kenneth Feld, the CEO of Feld Entertainment, which produces the circus, in a statement. “This, coupled with high operating costs, made the circus an unsustainable business for the company.”

In 2015, the circus said it would begin phasing out the use of elephants in its shows over three years in response to animals rights advocates and public backlash.

See also: Ringling Bros. joins 5 other companies bending to consumer pressure

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a major critic of the circus’s treatment of animals, championed the move on Saturday as a “victory” while Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, commended the decision in a tweet.

Ringling Bros. has two separate shows on tour and is set to perform a total of 30 more shows before the curtain falls in May. The final two shows will be held in Providence, R.I., on May 7 and in Uniondale, N.Y., on May 21.

Feld Entertainment’s other productions include Marvel Universe Live, Monster Jam, Disney On Ice and Disney Live. </s> (AP Photo/Tamara Lush). Gene Goldstein, center right, and his family stop for a photo outside the Nassau Veteran's Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., which is hosting the final performances of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Sa...

(AP Photo/Tamara Lush). Clarissa Williams, of West Hempstead, N.Y., poses with her daughter Nylah, 8, after seeing one of the final shows of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus at the Nassau Veteran's Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., ...

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) - Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus began its final show Sunday evening after 146 years of wowing audiences with its "Greatest Show on Earth."

Earlier in the day, as the circus performed its second-to-last show at the Nassau County Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of New York City, a group of retired and former circus performers sat across the street at a hotel bar, laughing and hugging and sharing memories of tours past.

"There's a lot of mixed emotions, said Rev. George "Jerry" Hogan, Ringling's circus chaplain. "It's a reunion, but it's bittersweet. I'm seeing people I haven't seen in years."

Known as Father Jerry, the Catholic chaplain waved at a group of clowns at the bar. Nearly all of the folks at the bar said they were headed to the final 7 p.m. performance, but first, they needed a trip down memory lane with people who were, and always will be, part of a unique family.

"It's 146 years of tradition, older than American baseball," said David Gregg, a clown from Hollywood, Florida. "This was one of the last nomadic tribes running around the country."

Ringling's parent company, Feld Entertainment, announced in January it would close the show, citing declining attendance and high operating costs.

Feld said Sunday that while he is melancholy about closing the production, he feels the performers are energized to "go out on top."

"We all have to embrace change," he said. "But there is a love for the circus that will never die. Our family has given a half century of life to something that would have ended 50 years ago."

Feld's father and uncle bought the circus in 1967. It was sold to Mattel in 1971, but the Feld family continued to manage the shows. The Felds bought the circus back in 1982.

Over the years, animal rights activists had targeted the circus, saying that forcing animals to perform and transporting them around the country amounted to abuse. And in May 2016, the company removed elephants from its shows, but ticket sales continued to decline.

Bello Nock, who is often called "The World's Greatest Daredevil," says it's emotional to see the final shows.

Nock, who has a signature shock of two-foot-tall blond hair, performed with the Ringling circus from 2000-2008. His parents met at the Ringling circus in 1954 and said the show inspired generations of performers.

"Every single circus in America used Ringling Brothers as their compass," he said.

Once a mainstay of entertainment in small towns and big cities across the country, Ringling had two touring circuses this season, one of which ended its run earlier this month in Providence, Rhode Island . That show was the more traditional, three-ring circus, while the one performing this weekend has a narrative storyline. Called "Out of This World," it's set in futuristic outer space, with Ringmaster Johnathan Lee Iverson narrating in his signature baritone.

It's an arena show, with an extravaganza of big cats, motorcycle stunts, clowns performing death-defying tricks, ice skaters and Mongolian contortionists - and that's just the first half. The second half includes more aerialists, hoop divers, basketball players in unicycles and an act that the circus staff calls "The Fuzzies," featuring dogs, pigs, llamas and goats.

There are mild explosions and flashing lights. It's a sensory overload, but one that captivates the little ones, as does the giant, branded boxes of popcorn and the snow cones in big cat mugs.

In the end, though, Feld executives said they knew the circus couldn't compete with iPhones, the internet, video games and massively branded and carefully marketed characters. Their other productions - Frozen on Ice, Marvel Live, Supercross, Monster Trucks, Disney on Ice - resonate better with younger generations.

And so tonight, sometime after 9 p.m., the Greatest Show on Earth will be no more.

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After 146 years, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus comes to a close.