RAGBRAI LII July 19 - 26, 2025

Surprise: elephant rides in Floyd County

  • 28 July, 2010
  • Michael Morain

RAGBRAI riders are used to seeing cows and hogs, but an elephant? That’s rare.

Fifteen-year-old Peanut offered rides for $5 at the Floyd County Fairgrounds, about two miles east of Charles City, because she apparently had time to kill. She was due in Chicago by now, but her truck had broken down while she was performing in a circus at the recent Floyd County fair. Her Florida-based owner Franciszka Liebling said they were waiting for the delivery of a repair part.

So Peanut patiently gave rides. And Liebling patiently answered questions – even from a certain reporter who asked a numb-skulled question about how the animal is faring in the heat.

“She’s from Africa,” Liebling said. “It’s actually pleasant for her, almost cold.”

Peanut used her trunk to dump bundles of hay on her forehead while a half dozen cyclists lined up for rides. As one customer pointed out: “We didn’t come all the way from New York to Iowa to not ride on an elephant.”

— Michael Morain

4 Comments

  1. Christopher Murphy

    Peanut is also named Nosey. She goes by many names because the USDA has so often cited her owner, the profane Hugo Liebling, for neglect and improper vet care. Peanut/Nosey lives in Davenport, in the Liebling family’s backyard. They built a concrete structure they chain her in. She can’t even turn around and she can’t see outside it. She has the worst life. Mrs. Liebling has been cited for mishandling Nosey, holding a bullhook, her infant child and cash all at once while leading the elephant on rides. As a result, the circus is not allowed to perform in the city of Daytona Beach anymore.

  2. Kristen

    So unbelieveably sad. These animals suffer for our entertainment. I pray one day Nosey finds relief from these monsters, and they get what is coming to them.

  3. denise

    First of all, “Peanut” is not 15 years old, she is 29 years. and her real name is “Nosey.” She is a very sickly elephant. She has lost a lot of weight this year, has a serious skin condition that Mr. Liebel has left untreated for a decade. Just read the USDA inspection reports that list all the repeated violations of the Animal Welfare Act and you will be utterly shocked that this man still has his license to exhibit this poor, long-suffering elephant. In reply to Kristen above, it takes people like us to contact the venues where she will perform and just give the venues owners the facts – read from the USDA inspection reports verbatim if you need to. The USDA does not do the best job when it comes to actually confiscating harmed and abused animals, so it is up to the public to make enough of a stink to get venues to not hire him in the future. If he cannot obey federal and state animal welfare laws like all citizens are expected to, he has no business operating a circus 10 months out of the year, dragging this poor, sickly elephant around the country.

  4. Christopher Murphy

    AND Mrs. Liebling doesn’t wash her hands after doing her “business.”

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