Artistes of Samrat Circus at a show. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, June 24: From now on, the onus of wooing spectators to a circus lies on the sturdy shoulders acrobats .

The Samrat Circus, which has pitched its tents in the capital, has decided to give emphasis to acrobatics to woo spectators.

The circus, which has a capacity to seat 2,500, merely draws a crowd of 200-250 in a show. The circus has suffered a major jolt following the Supreme Court ban on shows on animals, which come in the category of endangered species.

Circus manager Gopal Ghoshal has instructed acrobats in the circus to try out new and better techniques to keep people glued to their seats. The circus will stress on individual skills from now on, Ghoshal said. The gymnasts have started to practice from early morning to try out new techniques, Ghoshal added.

“It will take a few days for the artistes to prepare for the final show. However, we have a dedicated team and will soon come out with interesting and hair-raising performances. The trapeze artistes are also working on mastering some dare-devil stunts, which has never been done before. The stunts will definitely have the audience in awe,” said trapeze artistes.

The circus jokers have also been advised to come out with new pranks and gestures to tickle the audience. “The shows have to be different and we are banking on our human staff to work a miracle for us,” said S.M. Mukul, assistant circus manager.

Mukul told The Telegraph that the jokers’ makeup would also be changed in the next couple of days to attract children to the circus.

The circus management attributed its misfortunes to the ban on animal shows of endangered species by the apex court.

The ban now forbids circuses to exhibit animals in any kind of public shows.

The animals owned by circuses need to be given to zoos or left open in an enclosure made by the animal owners.

The circus authorities had approached the forest department in the capital to request the government to take the animals, which include four tigers, 10 lions, a bear and a leopard, under its custody.

The forest department is yet to reply. The animals are kept in the cages and are occasionally taken out when the enclosures are cleaned, Mukul said.

Every day, the circus has to dish out about Rs 10,000 to maintain the animals. The circus has assigned a caretaker for every animal of the endangered species in its custody. “It is difficult to make both ends meet these days. Yet, we ensure that the animals are taken care of. They have served the circus and earned for us. We will not let them perish,” Ghoshal said.