Ukrainian circus lion tamer Hamada Kouta was attacked by one of his lions in the middle of a show resulting in screams of disbelief and shock echoing throughout the arena. The video shows the performer locked in a large cage with three different lions as he enacts their planned routine. During the routine, one of the lions in close proximity to Mr Kouta lunges at him and sinks its teeth into his shoulder.
At this moment the circus erupts in screams from children and other audience members as the music stops and silence fills the room.
The circus performer is then forced to fight off the lion on top of him and usher the other two away from him.
Speaking after the incident, Mr Kouta said: “I called up one lion, and the second one attacked me from the front.
“The lion jumped at me and bit, but thank God, not on my neck, he immediately let me go and my back arm and leg were hurt.
“Scars from two claws and one tooth are on my leg, tooth marks on my arm, one 4 centimetres deep from three claws on my back.
“I calmly called the lions back because there were children in the audience.
“The most important thing for me is to see children in the audience, of course, I was covered in blood but I asked everybody to calm down and started the performance all over again from the beginning.”
Mr Kouta also defended the actions of the lions and insisted that it is trainers that make the mistakes which cause these incidents the majority of the time.
He said: “When an animal attacks a trainer, it is 99 percent of the time the trainer’s mistake.
“The lions are my children, so I know anything can happen.
“But it will never end with death because they are my children.
“I know them and I trust them more than I trust people.
“The incident was all right, I calmed down the spectators and we went on.
“Of course, I became lame, it hurts everywhere because these are teeth, one tooth was inside the muscle and it is serious.”