The organiser of an upcoming ?circus? has responded to criticisms last week from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals by saying the animals he would like to bring to the Island will be from a wildlife habitat ? not circus animals.

DNA Entertainment is planning a series of shows in the coming months and organiser Ray Hollis said that confusion arose when some of the flyers for the shows were leaked and the SPCA saw them and made the assumption DNA was bringing in a circus complete with animals.

The flyers showed an elephant and tiger in circus-like poses.

The SPCA publicly expressed concerns over this circus as they had in 2002, the last time a circus was brought to the Island, saying circuses traditionally have an abysmal record in terms of caring for their animals.

In fact, DNA Entertainment is planning four shows ? one of which is a circus without animals while another is an animal show.

Mr. Hollis said that he learned from the SPCA?s reaction in 2002 about the treatment of animals in circuses and decided he would research the care and background of any animals he brought to the Island in future.

This time the animals come from a habitat and have expert handlers, he said. He also decided to include an educational component to the show.

There will be a question and answer period so that families can learn more about the animals, he said.

Mr. Hollis said he has been in contact with the SPCA to clarify the confusion.

?We have contacted the SPCA and informed them that we are not bringing circus animals,? he said. ?We are going to keep them well informed about the show.?

Final permission for the animal show has not yet been granted, but Mr. Hollis said if it is, people can expect to see animals such as tigers and alligators in the show.

The first show DNA Entertainment is presenting, being held April 14-16, is similar to a traditional circus with clowns and trapeze artists.

The second is an ice show from May 1-14. The Animal Extravaganza is the third show and scheduled to be run May 26-28. The final show involves extreme sports such as motor-cross bikes and skateboards and will be held on June 10 and 11.

Tickets for the events go on sale next week and can be purchased from www.dnashows.com.