Lion mauls girl in Russian circus
WORLD
Monday, 29 Oct 20189:25 PM MYT
A screengrab from a video taken at the moment just before the lion pounced on the girl (highlighted, in pink) during the performance.
MOSCOW (AFP): A circus lion pounced on a four-year-old girl, ripping its claws into her face, during a show in southern Russia that was intended for young children, officials said Monday.
The girl has been hospital
The Russian investigative committee launched a probe into safety breaches at a performance intended for young children, and detained its director, who could face up to six years in prison.
Video footage showed only loose netting protecting the audience. The images also showed the girl standing near the ring, apparently with her back to the lioness.
Officials said the girl was taken to a children's hospital in the regional capital of Krasnodar with lacerations to her face and other injuries.
A local official told RIA Novosti news agency that the lion did not bite the girl but lashed her with its paw.
Lion tamer and director of the Moscow Big Circus, Eduard Zapashny, criticised "criminal negligence" by the detained circus director and the "extremely unprofessional" tamer, in comments to National News Service radio station.
Russian media named the circus involved as Mondial, based in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
During a circus show in Siberia in 2016, a leopard broke free and bit a woman.
ADVERTISING
In 2012, a cheetah mauled a seven-year-old boy in the face and neck in the Moscow region.
The same year, a tiger at a travelling zoo clawed a three-year-old boy in the head in far eastern Russia. – AFP
Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2018/10/29/lion-mauls-girl-in-russian-circus/#RRTQGdVBKa2GXIup.99
