Hours before a public memorial for Michael Jackson, a herd of elephants is on the march through downtown Los Angeles in a fitting start to a circus-like day.

Eleven Asian elephants and seven horses from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus lumbered from Union Station toward the Staples Center early Tuesday, where the memorial service for Jackson will be held.

The elephants are set to arrive at the arena some five hours before the memorial. Some elephants and early arriving Jackson fans could come face-to-face, but circus spokesman Andy Perez says the animals are quite comfortable with crowds.

Perez says the pre-dawn pachyderm march is a decades-old tradition for the circus, which opens Wednesday at the Staples Center.