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Credit: Chris O'Meara/AP

After a six-year hiatus, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is set to return soon, but with one significant change: no animals.

Showrunners announced on the Today show Wednesday that the famous circus — known for, and often criticized for, its acts with elephants, lions, and tigers — will be returning without animals.

"We will not be touring animals," Juliette Feld Grossman, a producer for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, told the outlet.

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus shut down in 2017 after 146 years, citing the high price of putting on the show, waning popularity, and pressures from animal rights activists.

"That's the past, and the great thing is that we've had a blank piece of paper to reimagine," producer Kenneth Feld said on Today about the future of the circus show.

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Instead of animals, the family-owned company will put on a revamped Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus with a number of death-defying and awe-inspiring human feats, according to Today. After holding auditions around the world, Grossman said the circus chose 75 talented performers out of the hundreds who auditioned for the new show. The circus is expected to hit the road again in September 2023.