A Chinese circus trainer has reportedly been attacked by a tiger during a live performance at a theatre.
Video emerged on social media captures the moment the tiger pounced towards the trainer and dragged him along the stage.
The trainer’s colleague soon came to his rescue as he repeatedly beat the animal with a long wooden stick. The trainer was said to sustain no life-threatening injuries.
A circus tiger pounced onto its trainer in the ring during a live performance at a theatre in China (left). One of the trainer’s co-workers rushed onto the stage to save him (right)
According to Chinese newspaper Liaoshen Evening Post, the incident happened during a circus show at the Liaohe Grand Theatre in Yingkou, Liaoning Province.
The performance was said to take place on the morning of August 20, and it was carried out by a touring circus group, which is performing at the theatre from August 11 to August 26.
Mobile phone footage uploaded on Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-like social media platform, shows a tiger jumping onto its trainer and grabbing onto his upper body.
Another circus trainer desperately tried to save his co-worker as he is seen in the video repeatedly beating the tiger with a long stick.
One of the trainer’s colleagues came to his rescue as he repeatedly beat the tiger with a long wooden stick, hoping the animal would let go of the man under attack (left and right)
The trainer under attack was dragged along the stage before the tiger let go of its paws and ran off the stage.
According to the video, filmed by one of the spectators, people who were watching the show just two metres (6.6 feet) away from the stage were shocked by the attack.
Staff from the Liaohe Grand Theatre told a reporter from Liaoshen Evening Post that the circus trainer did not sustain any life-threatening injuries.
The theatre also claimed that the tiger was in a ‘bad mood’ because it was too tired. Apparently, the tiger had performed 10 days in a row prior to the incident.
In response to the incident, the theatre has reduced the frequency of performance from three times a day to two, according to a post on its social media account.
The theatre claimed that the tiger had been performing three times a day for 10 days in a row, therefore it was in a bad mood when the apparent attack took place (left, right)
The injured circus trainer, who remains unidentified, said the tiger had been following his orders well before the incident.
He told Liaoshen Evening Post: ‘I spent jut a week training Teddy (the tiger) before it could perform on stage.’
Web users demanded the circus stop all animal shows after the incident happened.
‘Why are they still doing the show? The tiger is sick of being locked up in a cage and forced to perform,’ wrote web user ‘ooooootu’.
‘Didn’t our national TV say animal shows would be banned? Why is this still happening?’ another web user said.
MailOnline has contacted the theatre, but the staff refused to comment on the matters.
Keith Guo, press officer from PETA Asia explained to MailOnline: ‘Lifelong stress often drive animals in circus breakdown and become dangerous to both trainers and visitors.’
PETA Asia is calling on people not to attend animal circuses, whether at home or while traveling in China or elsewhere around the world.