Circus lion attacks trainer

It has been reported that a male lion has attacked a circus trainer during a performance in Doullens, northern France, on Sunday 7th May 2017.  

Footage available in the press shows that the lion locked his jaws around the keeper’s throat and dragged him across the circus ring in front of horrified families and children. The person who appears to have filmed the video wrote on Facebook: ‘It’s my girl who screams in the video, she cried all night.’

The trainer, who apparently raised and trained the animal himself, has now undergone a five-hour operation and is recovering in hospital. His relatives reportedly told the press that the lion ‘is well treated, well fed and there is no question of euthanasia.’ The lion will therefore stay at the circus and resume his performances when his tamer has recovered, they said.

In the UK, we are soon to be in the grip of a General Election, and in response Born Free has published a list of election priorities which call on all political candidates to prioritise wildlife protection and animal welfare. The list includes priorities relating to wild animals in travelling shows, which call for:

• An end to the use of wild animals in travelling circuses in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland within a year of the election.
• While working towards a ban, implement a system of licensing and inspection in the UK for all mobile zoos (including travelling vehicles, both temporary and permanent accommodation and suppliers intending to use non-domestic/exotic species).

If wildlife protection and animal welfare are important to you, we encourage you to ask your party candidates where they stand on these issues in the run up to the General Election.