A tiger jumped into the audience at a circus in Russia. “Children were screaming, adults were running away in panic”
A circus performance in the Russian region of Rostov-on-Don turned into a moment of general panic and chaos after a tiger jumped into the audience area after a safety net collapsed.
Video source: Instagram
A circus performance in the Russian region of Rostov-on-Don turned into moments of general panic on Sunday, April 19, after a tiger managed to jump into the audience area during a performance involving two trainers and three felines.
According to dailystar, the animals were separated from the public by a protective net suspended above the circular arena. During the performance, however, the safety structure suddenly collapsed, triggering chaos: the tigers began to stir and fight among themselves, and one of them jumped out of the arena through the seats on which the spectators were sitting.
“Children were screaming, adults were running away in panic,” the moment was described.
Witnesses say that a chain reaction of panic was triggered in the hall, especially among families with children, who began to leave the area near the arena in a hurry, while the organizers tried to calm the situation and asked the spectators to stay put, so as not to agitate the animal even more.
Footage from the scene shows the moment the protective netting gives way and one of the tigers ends up among the spectators as trainers try to regain control of the situation.
“People panicked so the staff started to calm them down and evacuated the places closest to the tiger,” said a source quoted by Russian media, saying that the animal ran between the rows, in areas where there were no spectators, and was later brought back under control.
Surprisingly, according to reports, some of those present would have remained relatively calm during certain moments of the incident, despite the animal's proximity to the stands.
Eventually, the tiger was captured by trainers and brought back to safety.
The reactions were not slow to appear. One viewer described the moment as extremely dangerous.
“It was a miracle that no one was injured by this escaped tiger. It could have been a real massacre by a frightened wild animal.” he said.
On the other hand, the director of the circus, Nikolai Dovgaluk, insisted that there was no real danger to the public, explaining that the animals are trained.
“We cannot say that there was absolutely no risk to the public, but these are trained tigers, that is, trained animals,” he claimed, downplaying the incident and saying that “the important thing is that there was no panic.”
Shortly before the incident, spectators had been invited to “a grandiose spectacle in which the strength and grace of predators combine with the magic of a true circus.”
