Elephants march in downtown L.A. to Staples Center at 4 a.m.
That sound you heard this morning was a herd of elephants stretching their legs around downtown.
At 4 a.m., 11 Asian elephants and seven horses strutted their stuff past picture-snapping police and even the acting mayor.
The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus is in town -- barely overshadowed by the Michael Jackson memorial service. The events are both at Staples Center. The circus bows Wednesday evening. Both events bring a circus-like atmosphere, although the traditional elephant parade went off without incident. Let's hope the same can be said of that other spectacle.
After the jump, more photos of the pachyderms and the horses as they paraded under freeway overpasses and up Pico Avenue.
-- Tony Pierce
Photos: Elephants by Associated Press / Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey; horses by David McNew / Getty Images
