An animal rights group will pay Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus 9.3 million US dollars to settle a lawsuit the circus filed after courts found that activists paid a former circus worker for his help in claiming the circus abused elephants.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it was not admitting any wrongdoing in settling the lawsuit.

The animal rights group was one of several involved in a lawsuit filed in 2000 against the circus' owner, Feld Entertainment Inc, claiming elephants were abused.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.