Our zoo closed down the elephant exhibit and sent the last two animals away to what turned out to be even worse situations. There are no guarantees here.
I took my kids to the RB circus one time. We went early, to see the march. Seeing the huge, majestic elephants up close had a true and lasting impact on my kids. I've wished often I could have provided that by seeing elephants in the wild instead, but I couldn't. In the end, even that didn't outweigh--for any of us--the knowledge that the elephants were being kept as prisoners. Seeing them prodded to perform was painful.
I wish the best for the animals. and for everyone affected, including those who made the decision. Elephants are declining in the wild due to ivory poaching. Hopefully we can turn our resources to preserving them in their habitats.
I have a very real fear that when elephants and other rare/endangered/"exotic" species are out of sight, they'll be out of mind... and therefore out of time. These moves to get them more humane conditions is laudable, but removing them completely from the public eye... that, I fear, might backfire. Humans don't care about what they can't see. Your kids seeing those elephants live, up close - a circus wasn't an ideal habitat, true, but your kids will likely remember that a lot more than they'll remember a picture in a book or a video on YouTube. There's something about the real-life encounter that really says "This is magnificent - this deserves saving." We have to find a balance, I think, some way to expose humans to these animals and make them care that doesn't unduly compromise their well-being. (And there are an awful lot of animals that, for whatever reason, cannot be returned to the wild... can they not become "ambassadors"?)