Terrifying moment circus bear on hoverboard attacks handler
Terrifying footage has captured the moment a hoverboard-riding circus bear attacked a trainer in front of hundreds of onlookers.
Animals
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A hoverboard-riding circus bear has attacked a trainer in front of hundreds of watching children and parents in Russia.
Terrifying footage captured the moment the female bear floored tamer Sergei Prichinich, 48, and pinned him to the ground as alarmed spectators looked on in horror in Biysk., in the Altay kray region of central Russia.
Footage shows the circus performer struggling to break free as the angry brown bear named Donut – who weighs over 220kg – gnawed a stick he held in his hand.
As the pair wrestled on the ground, another circus official was seen poking a stick at the predator through the barrier separating the audience from the ring.
After some time, the bear finally moved away, allowing the performer to return to his feet.
The incident could have been fatal for the trainer, but he remained calm.
Astonishingly, the bear appeared to lose her aggression in an instant and walked obediently with Prichinich as if nothing had happened.
Reports said the trainer had been rushed to hospital, but the circus denied this.
“There (sic) performance continued,” said a circus spokesman.
Nikita Mikhailov, head of the Moretti Circus, said later: “Towards the end of the act, the bear snapped at Sergei and wrestled with him.”
He “didn’t resist on purpose” and “waited for the bear to calm down, got up, continued the routine with her, sealed it all with a kiss, and that was it — the show continued as usual”.
He said neither the trainer nor the bear were injured.
“This is an animal, and they can behave differently, they may not like something, they can express their emotions this way,” he said.
“Every trainer understands this.”
Russian animal rights campaigner Yuri Koretskikh has led calls to ban live animals in circuses.
“While modern world circus art is rapidly moving towards humanity, banning the use of animals in circuses, the Russian circus lobby is actively resisting progress, defending its commercial interests,” he said.
Yet recent polls show most respondents “no longer want to see animals suffer in circuses”.
Originally published as Terrifying moment circus bear on hoverboard attacks handler
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