An angered “wayward” lion brutally attacks a whip-wielding tamer in Russia as a shocked audience screams, shocking video shows.
During a circus show, two lionesses were wrestling in the ring in front of a raucous crowd, when one of them reacted to the trainer’s lunging at her with a pole, causing the lion to pounce on top of him and bite the man several times while he struggled on the ground, the disturbing recording shows.
One of the lions, named Bega, then attacked tamer Maxim Orlov, causing him to be taken to a local hospital in Moshkovo, Novosibirsk region, according to the Daily Mail.
Among the horrified audience members was a pregnant woman who had a seizure from witnessing the shocking scene, the Daily Mail reported.
“The lionesses went berserk,” one witness, Viktoria, purportedly said.
Orlov, while in the hospital, said. “Cases such as today are very rare, but animals are animals,” and said the 5-year-old lion “has been wayward since childhood,” according to the Daily Mail.