Image copyright AP Image caption The elephants will be housed in a centre in Florida

Elephants have performed for the last time at one of the top circuses in the United States.

The 11 Asian females from the Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus are being retired amid changing attitudes to animals used as performance acts.

The animals took to the ring in Providence, Rhode Island, and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, ending nearly a century and a half of tradition.

They will be housed at a conservation centre in Florida run by the company.

Some animal rights activists have criticised the facility, describing it as little more than a breeding centre, with inadequate space for the elephants.

This is disputed by the circus's Center for Elephant Conservation, which says the focus is on animal care, conservation and health. The centre also carries out studies into the apparent ability of elephants to suppress cancer more easily than humans.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption US attitudes to performing animals are changing

At the show in Rhode Island, where six elephants were displayed, ringmaster Johnathan Lee Iverson described it as an emotional time.

"That's history tonight there, ladies and gentlemen, true American icons,'' he told the crowd.

Elephants have been used in American circuses for 200 years.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption An elephant is prepared before performing at Wilkes-Barre in Pennsylvania

Circus pioneer Hachaliah Bailey bought an African elephant, Old Bet, in 1808, said to be the first elephant to perform in the US.

They are still used in other circuses in the US, but in recent years animal rights campaigners have thrown a spotlight on the welfare of these and other animals in the entertainment industry.

In increasing numbers of US cities, it has become harder for circus elephants to perform, with some outlawing the use of the bullhook - a sharp instrument used in training.