[imagesource: YouTube / ClickHeart TV]

Play with fire, and you’ll eventually get burnt.

The same is true with wild animals, as trainer Maxim Orlov found out during a Ural Travelling Circus performance on Saturday.

Orlov was taken to a hospital in Novosibirsk, southern Russia, to receive treatment for arm and leg wounds sustained after a lioness called Vega attacked.

Before Orlov entered the ring, Vega was seen brawling with Santa, another lioness, reports Metro:

Scared children and their parents rushed from the arena as the lioness twice clawed and sank her teeth into him.

Orlov and other circus staff managed to fend off the animal with poles but she still managed to cause injuries to the trainer…

A pregnant woman suffered an epileptic seizure from shock, said reports.

All things considered, Orlov may have been fortunate to emerge with injuries that are not considered life-threatening.

This footage was captured by onlookers:

This is far from the first attack of this nature in Russia recently, and there have once again been calls for a ban on live animals in circuses.

In response, Orlov said he blamed the attack on the Ural Travelling Circus not working during the pandemic.

Sure, that and the fact that these animals don’t belong in a circus ring, trotted out for our own amusement.

[source:metro]