Russian circus goers were in for a frightening surprise when a trained brown bear turned on its handler, briefly mauling the coach and pinning him to the floor as terrified audience members fled in panic.
Dramatic footage surfaced online after the attack on Wednesday in the town of Olonets, northwest Russia, showing the moment the circus trainers lost control of the animal. Soon after pushing a wheelbarrow across the stage as part of the show, the bear suddenly latched onto his handler, dragging him to the ground.
Huge circus bear attacks trainer as ‘terrified’ families scramble to escape pic.twitter.com/AmWo4mMvXm https://t.co/HPQIIBGsBl
— Atlantide (@Atlantide4world) October 24, 2019
With no barriers between the audience and the stage, after a moment of shock, attendees scrambled to gather their children and belongings and flee the venue, amid gasps and screams.
An assistant quickly came to the trainer’s aid, kicking the animal in an attempt to stop the attack, but the bear did not appear fazed and was ultimately subdued by electric shock, one witness told news site Gazeta.ru.
Fortunately for all involved, there were no serious injuries to trainer, bear or bystander, thanks in part to the fact that the animal wore a muzzle on stage.
Zapashny, however, noted the bear appeared “good, big” and “plump,” suggesting it was well fed and in good health.
The director of the circus told Gazeta.ru that while neither the trainer nor the animal were hurt, the bear number would no longer be a part of the show. He then appeared to blame the incident on the circus-goers, who he said violated the rules by using camera flashes during the performance.
Edgard Zapashny, famed Russian ringmaster and director of the Zapashny Brothers & Great Moscow Circus, said that while such attacks are not entirely out of the norm, added human error is usually part of the equation as well.
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“An animal is an animal, they attack and will attack. This is normal,” Zapashny told Russia’s National News Service. “But under each attack there is a certain error of the person himself, which means that he did not see something, could not get ahead of the animal’s thought, did not have time to react, to stop the attack.”
Some work will probably be done on the mistakes, and the trainer will draw conclusions for himself, but I know for sure that neither the bear nor the person were injured in this attack.
Zapashny, however, noted the bear appeared “good, big” and “plump,” suggesting it was well fed and in good health.
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A criminal probe has been opened into the incident to determine whether the circus offered “unsafe services,” according to Interfax, though live animal performances are themselves legal in Russia, including without a barrier separating audience and stage so long as the animal is muzzled.
RT with additional input by GVS News Desk.