The government is expected to formally introduce a law banning the use of wild animals in circuses.
Shadow environment minister Gavin Shuker said Labour supported an outright ban on wild animals being used in circuses.
Between 35 and 50 wild animals are believed to be working in circuses.
Hollywood actress Goldie Hawn is campaigning for a ban on the use of elephants in circuses and other entertainment acts.
Under the terms of the draft Wild Animals in Circuses Bill, the ban will cover any creature not normally domesticated in Britain.
But Tory backbencher Andrew Rosindell prompted jeers by backbenchers across the House by arguing that "there was almost no cruelty" against animals in circuses.
Welfare groups say legislation does not go far enough and should also ban the docking of dogs' tails for cosmetic reasons and animals performing in circuses.
BBC: NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Animal bill 'won't kill circuses'
There are currently 20 licensed wild animals working in circuses.
He said he shared the views of MPs concerned about the use of performing animals and insisted the government "is determined to stamp out cruelty and bad welfare for animals in circuses".
They have also been employed for display - in temples for religious purposes, in circuses for entertainment (though there's less of that than there used to be), and by rulers to overawe their subjects and impress their rivals.
Winding up the debate Environment Minister Jim Paice told MPs that, according to government lawyers, it was "highly likely" ministers would be challenged on the basis that an outright ban was "disproportionate in terms of improving welfare in circuses".
Those who work or have worked in animal circuses agree animals should be well looked after.
The government has promised to ban the use of wild animals in travelling circuses "at the earliest opportunity".
Circuses in England will be prohibited from using wild animals in their shows from the beginning of December 2015, the government has announced.
In Europe, where smaller circuses worked locally, innovation remained a primary requirement for each company, to lure in repeat customers.
Do your homework - some estancias are just private homes that begrudgingly rent rooms for profit, others are campy circuses that bring in buses of camera-snapping tourists - but do not miss a chance to live out your cowboy dreams in the Argentine pampas.
"You didn't go to a circus, you went to the circus, " said one historian about Barnum-esque circuses: They were, in truth, all the same.
The circus was invented in the 1760s by a British cavalry officer, Philip Astley, who started with trick riding, moved on to "hippodrama" (plays in which horses took center stage) and established many of the basics of circuses, including brass-band marching tunes, a broad center ring and even the "big top" itself.
WSJ: Week in Words: Susceptor, Laminar, Hippodrama, Ogooglebar
At the turn of the 20th century, letterpress posters advertised boxing matches, circuses and carnivals, but most print shops junked their clunky letterpress printers for offset units in the 1950s or for computers in the 1980s.
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