Animals on Barnum's cracker boxes no longer pictured in cages after PETA protest

Animals on Barnum's crackers boxes will no longer be pictured in cages after pressure from campaigners.

The popular US biscuits, made by Nabisco, will have different packaging after pressure from PETA.

The animal rights group urged the company to update the original packaging which showed lions, tigers, polar bears and giraffes locked in cages.

The activist group said the move signified that society "no longer tolerates caging and chaining exotic animals for circus shows".

Nabisco said it was the right time to show the animals in their "natural habitat" to keep the crackers "relevant".

PETA said: "For more than a century, Nabisco’s Barnum’s Animals crackers have been sold in boxes that depict lions, gorillas, elephants, and other animals caged in a circus boxcar. But following discussions with PETA, in which we suggested a new design, the brand has redesigned the packaging to show animals free in nature instead of held captive in cages for human entertainment."

"Big victories can come in small packages," said PETA's Zachary Toliver. "And no matter where we look, we find new evidence that people are embracing compassion for animals like never before.

"The new box for Barnum’s Animals perfectly reflects that our society no longer tolerates caging and chaining exotic animals for circus shows. PETA is celebrating this redesign just as we’ve celebrated the closure of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and an end to the use of wild animals in many other circuses."

Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey's, billed as the "Greatest Show on Earth" was the original hit circus started in 1871, and subject of the Baz Luhman film, The Greatest Showman. The company ran for 146 years until it was dissolved in 2017. Under PT barnum the circus was known for extreme animal cruelty, and in its later years, Ringlings was involved in animal conservation and research.

Other circuses have ended their use of exotic animals, and the states of Illinois and New York have already banned travelling elephant exhibits. Many other US cities have banned wild animal attractions altogether, fighting the the use of sticks, bullhooks, whips and electronic prods to punish the animals.

Mr Toliver added: "Society at large no longer accepts beating, shocking, prodding, neglecting, or chaining up animals for fleeting moments of entertainment—but we still have work to do."

A statement from Nabisco, which also makes Oreos and Ritz crackers, said: "To keep animal crackers a brand that is relevant for years to come it was the right time to show the animals in their natural habitat.”