The circus renowned for staging The Greatest Show on Earth has been accused of routinely beating its elephants.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) has released a secretly recorded video that appears to show staff whipping and striking its troupe of performing elephants.

The animal rights organisation says that someone affiliated with their group went undercover to make the recording during a tour by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus earlier this year.

The four-minute video appears to show circus trainers using bullhooks, tools with heavy handles and pointed metal hooks, to beat the elephants across the head, legs and body. In one part of the video, a trainer shouts abuse at an elephant then strikes it with a bullhook while telling it to “back up”.

Another clip apparently shows a trainer dragging an Asian elephant with the bullhook dug into its trunk. Staff can also be seen whipping the giant mammals, which are wearing heavy headdresses, in the face.

Much of the footage shows the trainers beating the animals apparently at random as they stand herded together in line.

The circus, which was founded in 1884 and starred in Cecil B. DeMille’s epic The Greatest Show on Earth in 1952, denies that its practices are cruel.

In a statement, Feld Entertainment Inc., which owns Ringling, said the Peta video was “questionable in its context regarding the portrayal of circus animal handlers” and insisted that the circus was in compliance with federal, state and local regulations at the time Peta says the video was made.

“Ringling Bros. is proud of its efforts to care for and increase the population of the endangered Asian elephant and we encourage people to come see for themselves that the animals are thriving in our care,” the company said.

Peta alleges that the abuse suffered by the elephants has caused stereotypic psychological distress to at least one of the animals. Tonka, a 25-year-old elephant that has been used by Ringling since 1989, is apparently filmed swaying from side to side, bobbing her head up and down and swinging her foot rhythmically.

A Peta spokesman said: “The unit's animal superintendant and head elephant trainer were among those who used bullhooks to hook and yank elephants by their sensitive skin, as can be seen in our undercover video.

“The abuse extended from Birmingham, Alabama, to Providence, Rhode Island. Ringling's venues changed, but the beatings did not.”

The circus, whose incessant tours of the United States recently included the Staples Centre the day after the Michael Jackson memorial, has been accused of violating animal rights in the past.

In 2003, Tom Rider, a former employee of the circus, joined animal rights groups in filing a suit under the Endangered Species Act, accusing Ringling of "harming, harassing and wounding" the elephants.

A trial began six weeks ago at the US district court with closing arguments expected to be heard later this month.

In 1998, the circus did not admit guilt but agreed to donate $20,000 (£12,000) to elephant care groups to settle a case involving the death of a three-year-old elephant in Jacksonville, Florida.

Between 2005 and 2008, the troupe was investigated on 52 occasions, which uncovered 24 documented violations, although many of them were minor, according to the federal Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

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