It took them 116 years but the African animals that feature on boxes of Barnum’s Animals Crackers have finally been freed from the circus. Since 1902, the packaging for the sweet crackers has featured caged circus animals being transported in a red and yellow wagon, with the Barnum name a reference to PT Barnum’s circus which for years travelled with caged animals.

But in 2016 the animal rights organisation Peta advised the cracker-manufacturer Nabisco to change the design, because animals in circuses are often kept in cruel conditions.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The old design, with the animals behind the bars of a circus wagon. Photograph: Kiichiro Sato/AP

“Circuses tear baby animals away from their mothers, lock animals in cages and chains, and cart them from city to city … they have no semblance of a natural life,” Peta wrote in a letter to the company.

Today Nabisco has revealed the new packet, which sees a lion, elephant, giraffe, gorilla and zebra roaming free in a savannah-like paradise, although if we are taking the packets of crackers seriously it’s worth pointing out that because of hunting and environmental change you’re unlikely to see all five animals sharing the same habitat in modern Africa.

Both Peta and Nabisco have suggested that the change was a nod to animal welfare. A Nabisco spokesperson on Tuesday said that the brand had always driven “awareness around key animal and environmental issues” and that “to continue to make the brand relevant for years to come, we felt this was the right time for the next evolution in our design, now showing the animals in a natural habitat.”

Peta claimed the change as a personal coup, tweeting “Big victories can come in small packages” and thanking Nabsico for heeding their advice.

PETA 🐳🐬 (@peta) Big victories can come in small packages!



THANK YOU, Nabisco 🦁❤️ After working with PETA, their new box for Barnum's Animals Crackers perfectly reflects that our society no longer tolerates the caging and chaining of animals for the circus. https://t.co/TZfQDPTand pic.twitter.com/5L9i8W1DMq

Still, the change may have as much to do with the declining popularity of circuses as it does with increased awareness of animal welfare. Animal-shaped biscuits had been popular in the US since the late 18th century, but Nabisco, then the National Biscuit Company set their brand apart in 1902 by adopting the “Barnum’s” name, evoking the circus theme of the Barnum and Bailey Circus, then one of the most popular circus attractions in the United States – although to this day the company has never paid a licensing or royalty fee to the circus.

In 2017, though, the Barnum and Bailey circus, since merged with the Ringling Bros circus, put on its show for the final time, ending 146 years of entertainment. The circus blamed low attendances and high operating costs for the closure. It meant Nabisco now had a biscuit tribute to a circus that no longer exists. It was only after this closure, that the new box was designed.

Over the years more than 50 different animals have featured inside the boxes, although some have been rejected because of their unusual shape. Alligators, apparently, were rejected because the product development team thought their tails would be too fragile and the biscuits might crack.