A circus trainer performing in front of hundreds of children and parents was nearly killed in front of the audience when he was attacked by a bear during one of his acts.
“At the end of the performance, the bear bit Sergei and fought with him,” Nikita Mikhailov, head of the Moretti Circus, told reporters after the incident. “The performance continued.”
The 490-pound female brown bear, named Donut, was riding a hoverboard at a Russian circus when she suddenly turned and lunged at her trainer, Sergei Pličnych.
Donatz pinned Plicinic to the ground and continued biting him for about 30 seconds before a worker outside the cage poked the bear, allowing the trainer to get to his feet.
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According to East to West, Mikhailov said the trainer “waited for the bear to calm down, then stood up, continued his routine with the bear, finished with a kiss and that was it. The show continued as usual.”
The moment Donuts, a 490-pound brown bear, attacked a trainer during a live performance.
A video posted on Telegram and obtained by media shows the bear biting a stick that the trainer had held up for protection, and when the trainer pecked at it, the bear lost all aggression and walked away from the trainer.
Mikhailov praised Plicnych for keeping his cool and unleashing the aggression of the donut.
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“These are animals, they can behave differently, they can not like something, they can express their emotions in this way,” Mikhailov said. “Every trainer understands this.”
Sergey Pličnych regained control over the donut after his colleague poked it with a stick to calm her anger. (East/West)
Russian animal rights activist Yuri Koretskikh said the incident ended safely but that it could have been worse, and called for a ban on live animal performances.
“While modern world circus art is rapidly moving towards humanity and banning the use of animals in circuses, the Russian circus lobby is actively resisting this progress while protecting its commercial interests,” Koretskikh said.
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Animal rights have been a prominent issue in Russia in recent years, with Russian President Vladimir Putin signing a bill in 2018 banning all forms of animal cruelty, according to the TASS news agency.
Sergey Pličnych brought the donut back to the center circle and showed everyone there was nothing to be afraid of or worried about. (East/West)
However, the law does not apply to animal performances, which remain a focus of attention for animal rights activists.
Russia's governing body, the Duma, has proposed a bill to ban the use of circus animals in the country in 2023, which is reportedly due to be presented to the Duma in October. Russian media Vet and Life.
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The bill's co-authors, Alexei Nechayev and Vladislav Davankov, cited more extreme examples of animal cruelty in circuses and stressed their desire to “protect the lives and welfare of animals involved in circus performances.”
In 2022, the Russian Prosecutor's Office released a report stating that after investigating more than 500 animal shelters, it had found 116 cases of illegal use and 48 cases of animal cruelty.
