This is the terrifying moment a Ukrainian lion trainer is attacked by the killer cats.
American tourist Doug Sheperd was filming at L’viv Circus when the angry animals set upon Oleksie Pinko to the shock of the horrified crowd.
After the first attack Pinko appears to strike one of the riled animals in the face with a metal object at which point the lion turns and charges at him.
Onlookers scream as the roaring circus lions lunge and strike at the helpless tamer, ripping through his clothes with their razor sharp claws.
Mr Sheperd, who was with his wife Masha and two young children, told CBS: “You have a handler from outside poking through the net, and then there’s one inside who almost gets eaten. But the lions are after the trainer.”
The video appears to show only a flimsy net separating the lions from the crowd with the gate opening and closing during the ordeal.
Mrs Sheperd added: “I was just grabbing my daughter and trying to run because I thought that they were going to come out.”
It’s understood Pinko was taken to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery and is in a stable condition.
The only thing that went wrong was the lion not finishing the job.
rotten trainer torturing the king of beasts..Too bad the jerk wasn’t totally dismembered!