An elephant in Kingston? Sure, after all, anything is possible at the Striper Festival, especially when a man like Doug Terranova comes to town. Because when a man like Terranova comes to town, he doesn’t come alone.

This time Terranova brought not only the elephant, named Kamba, but a llama, goats, miniature horses, ponies and a baby bull, to name a few.

"I love animals," Terranova said.

Terranova, who lives outside of Dallas, TX owns the company Animal Talent of Texas along with Jacquelyn Janis. The company provides animals for entertainment ranging from commercials, films, TV, weddings, shows and even a few fairs.

He has animals in two shows in Branson, MO. Thirty-eight white pigeons perform in one show while 11 dogs show their stuff in a performance at Silver Dollar City. He featured three of his horses in a movie called "Acts of Love" with Gary Busey and Dennis Hopper and put together the entire circus scene at the end of the movie "Problem Child."

Terranova also houses lions, tigers, a black bear, mountain lions, 21 dogs, nine house cats, a wolf and other exotic animals which he trains and cares for.

"Anything can be trained," said Terranova. "Some just take longer than others. You can train anything...except women."

Terranova definitely has a sense of humor, which is essential when working with animals. He also has a commanding side and keen concentration, which he said is also essential when working with animals.

"These are exotic animals, not pets," he said. "You can take the tiger out of the jungle, but you can’t take the jungle out of the tiger. These are wild animals, you have to remember that."

Terranova began his career with animals when he was 12 years old. He volunteered for a zoo, shoveling manure and hauling hay.

Every year the circus would come to town and buy meat and hay from the zoo.

"I would bring the hay to the circus," he said. "It got to be where they would call and say, ‘Send Doug out with the hay.’ I’d hang out with the guys around the animals."

Terranova worked at the zoo until he graduated high school. He was finally given a paying job, making the dinner for all the animals. After graduation, he joined up with the Clyde Brothers Johnson Circus.

"Originally, I groomed the animals," he said. "Then I worked with them and trained them. I had a 17-tiger act, and elephant act with six elephants and bears."

Terranova said bears are very hard to work with.

"The thing with bears is that they are real smart. They learn quickly and then they get bored," he said.

Terranova "retired" several times from the circus and finally opened his own business, still keeping in close touch with the circus.

Though he said he loves animals, Terranova said sometimes they don’t especially love you back.

He said he had been reminded of that fact by experiencing several close calls with a couple of animals. He blames their aggression on lack of concentration and human error, not always his however.

"I was thrown up against a wall by a Syrian beer once," Terranova said. "I wasn’t paying attention. That day I was having a problem with the tigers. I rushed and got the bears. I was thinking about what went wrong with the tigers and wasn’t paying attention to the bears. One of them got an extension cord and was about to put it in his mouth."