Story highlights The decline of ticket sales helped lead to the move

Taking elephants off the road and high operating costs hurt the business

(CNN) The Ringling Bros. circus is closing down after more than 100 years in operation, according to a press release from Feld Entertainment, which has owned the circus for the last 50 years.

Photos: Elephants in Ringling Bros. circus Photos: Elephants in Ringling Bros. circus A blind child in Chicago sits on the back of a kneeling elephant from the Ringling Brothers Circus in April 1917. Ringling Bros. will have elephants perform for the final time Sunday, May 1. It had previously said that all of its elephants would be retired by 2018, but the retirement came early. Hide Caption 1 of 15 Photos: Elephants in Ringling Bros. circus Detective inspector Frank Story, right, euthanized this circus elephant after it was badly burned in a fire at the Ringling Bros. show grounds in Cleveland in August 1942. Hide Caption 2 of 15 Photos: Elephants in Ringling Bros. circus People stand near a circus elephant during a rehearsal in Sarasota, Florida, in 1949. Hide Caption 3 of 15 Photos: Elephants in Ringling Bros. circus Actress Marilyn Monroe rides on the back of an elephant to mark the opening night of the circus at New York's Madison Square Garden in March 1955. Hide Caption 4 of 15 Photos: Elephants in Ringling Bros. circus Elephants perform in New York in March 1964. Hide Caption 5 of 15 Photos: Elephants in Ringling Bros. circus Elephants work out and train in 1971. Hide Caption 6 of 15 Photos: Elephants in Ringling Bros. circus Children in Denver react to Charlie the elephant in 1978. Hide Caption 7 of 15 Photos: Elephants in Ringling Bros. circus An elephant walks out of a boxcar near the show's famous animal trainer, Gunther Gebel-Williams, in 1979. Hide Caption 8 of 15 Photos: Elephants in Ringling Bros. circus Elephants perform in 1995. Hide Caption 9 of 15 Photos: Elephants in Ringling Bros. circus This January 2005 photo, provided by the Animal Protection Institute, shows circus elephants chained in Jacksonville, Florida. Feld Entertainment Inc., which produces the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, agreed to pay $270,000 for allegedly violating the Animal Welfare Act on several occasions from June 2007 to August 2011, according to a 2011 news release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As part of the settlement, the company admitted no wrongdoing or violation of USDA policy. Hide Caption 10 of 15 Photos: Elephants in Ringling Bros. circus Nicole, a 31-year-old elephant, shows off her artistic talent in 2006 as she paints for children of the local Ronald McDonald House in New York. Hide Caption 11 of 15 Photos: Elephants in Ringling Bros. circus Performers ride elephants during a show in New York in April 2007. Hide Caption 12 of 15 Photos: Elephants in Ringling Bros. circus Animal handlers bathe and brush two elephants in Phoenix in July 2006. Hide Caption 13 of 15 Photos: Elephants in Ringling Bros. circus An elephant's trunk is seen on a train before a walk in Washington in 2009. Hide Caption 14 of 15 Photos: Elephants in Ringling Bros. circus Elephants perform in 2010 to celebrate the 200th birthday of Phineas Taylor Barnum, a founder of the circus. Hide Caption 15 of 15

"I have made the difficult business decision that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® will hold its final performances in May of this year," CEO Kenneth Feld said.

High operating costs and the decline of ticket sales "made the circus an unsustainable business for the company," Feld said.

And after "the transition of the elephants off the road, we saw an even more dramatic drop" in ticket sales, Feld said.

Before taking the final bow, the Ringling Bros., will perform 30 shows across the United States between now and May.

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