POLK CITY, Florida: Animal rights activists were stunned and pleased when the parent company of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced it would eliminate elephants from its circus performances by 2018. But activists soon focused on the timing, questioning why it will take three years to phase out the elephants from the traveling circus shows.

“Many of the elephants are painfully arthritic, and many have tuberculosis, so their retirement day needs to come now,” wrote Ingrid E. Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, in a statement. “If the decision is serious, then the circus needs to do it NOW.”

Executives at Feld Entertainment, Ringling’s parent company, say it will take three years to build proper facilities for them on the 200-acre (80-hectare) plot of land in central Florida that’s already being used as an elephant conservation center. They have repeatedly denied that the elephants are mistreated in any way in the circuses.

“Each elephant requires a certain amount of space and a certain amount of barn area,” said Stephen Payne, Feld’s spokesman, adding that permits, drainage issues and other logistics must be worked out.

The company intends for the elephants to live out their years on the property, and since one elephant is 69, they must plan for the long haul to care for the crop of gentle giants.

The decision to phase out elephants from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus comes at a time when cities across the United States are cracking down on exotic animal displays.

Even before Thursday’s announcement that the elephants will be phased out of Ringling’s performances by 2018, company officials already said they were pulling out of certain cities because of newly enacted restrictions.

Feld executives said the decision to end the circus’s century-old tradition of showcasing elephants was difficult and debated at length. Elephants have often been featured on Ringling’s posters over the decades.

Feld owns 43 elephants, 29 of which live at the company’s 200-acre (80-hectare) Center for Elephant Conservation in central Florida. Thirteen animals will continue to tour with the circus before retiring to the center by 2018.

Another reason for the decision, company President Kenneth Feld said, was that certain cities and counties have passed “anti-circus” and “anti-elephant” ordinances. The company’s three shows visit 115 cities throughout the year, and Feld said it’s expensive to fight legislation in each jurisdiction. It’s also difficult to plan tours amid constantly changing regulations, he said.