Circus visitors in Russia were left terrified after a lioness lunged at a four-year-old member of the audience, dragged her into the ring and allegedly sanks its teeth into her head, mid-performance. The incident occurred in the Uspenskoye village in Krasnodar, Russia.
Distressing footage capturing the incident shows the four-year-old girl, named Ksenia, waving a flag towards the predator, just behind what appears to be a safety net, as the animal act progresses.
The lioness, which is leashed and handled by a member of the circus crew, suddenly leaps forward, breaks through the flimsy netting and grabs the girl:
According to a medic who attended to Ksenia, Valentina Pavlova, the lion used its paw and “pulled the child inside onto the arena and sank its teeth into her head. The circus team pulled the lioness away and delivered the girl to the Central Republican Hospital.”
Pavlova added: “She is now in stable condition, there is no danger to her life.”
Ksenia survived the horror attack but suffered serious injuries to her face and chest. Although the girl is presently in stable condition with no danger to her life and is being treated in the intensive care unit, doctors have said that the child will be “scarred for life”.
Pavlova revealed that the attack left Ksenia with a bite mark “on her face that goes from ear to chin.”