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Archive picture: circus bear in Russia
Photo: Anatoly Maltsev / dpa
This message has several victims: the bear and a woman. All of them work for a circus, some as an attraction, the other as its trainer. On a video recorded by spectators, the two bears can be seen in the ring - without a protective fence to the audience. One bear runs on its hind legs towards the trainer, then grabs the woman with its right paw, clings to her arm, tries to bite her shoulder and pulls her to the ground. Two employees then dragged the animal away from the woman. The trainer came to a hospital after the incident on Saturday night.
Now it should be checked whether the animals are being kept according to the regulations in the circus.
The public prosecutor's office for the Oryol region southwest of Moscow intervened, the authority announced on Sunday.
In order to clarify the exact circumstances that led to the attack, circus workers and eyewitnesses of the incident would also be interviewed.
For years the keeping of circus animals has met with growing criticism around the world.
There are always incidents.
Animal rights activists are therefore calling for such appearances to be banned.
Wild animals are often kept in small cages and trained with force, complains the animal rights organization Peta.
Löw / dpa
