PALMETTO, FLORIDA — Though Ringling Bros. circus has put on its final show, the rights of the animals it closed down to protect may still be forced to perform abroad.

Long marketed as “The Greatest Show on Earth,” on May 21 Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus finally drew its curtains for the final time. The company’s decision to call it quits came after years of public backlash condemning the training methods used to get the non-human performers do certain stunts never before seen in the wild.

According to documents obtained by CBS News, Feld Entertainment, the company that owns Ringling Bros., is attempting to obtain an Endangered Species Act permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with plans of sending 15 big cats to Cirkus Krone, a circus in Munich, Germany that uses animals in its acts. The permit is meant to be issued for applications which demonstrate the transfer of the animals will enhance the propagation or survival of the species. However, the Animal Legal Defense Fund claims making a nominal donation to any conservation group is enough to fill the requirements.

Feld Entertainment claims the animals are owned by their trainer, Alexander Lacey, and as he has no further employment here in the States, he will be taking his lions, tigers, and leopard to Germany, as is his right. Animal activists have pleaded that the big cats be retired to local animal sanctuaries. The public is free to contest the permit request for 30 days as of May 26, 2017.