Old Video Of Circus Bear Attacking Handler Viral Again

Animal rights groups have long advocated for a ban on animals in circulates, zoos, and other entertainment venues. The ban is on the grounds that wild animals are tortured to teach them circus tricks and held captive in small enclosures. As a result the animals, supposed to be free in the wild, instead live in distress. Now an old video in which a bear, who was performing a circus trick, snaps and attacks the handler is going viral. The handler grabbed his snout and pulled it, prompting an aggressive reaction from the wild animal.

Another circus staff intervened, hitting the bear to subdue it. The frightened audience leaves the venue.

Reportedly this incident took place in 2019 in Olonets, a northwest Russian town. At the time, the captive bear was performing in an act called “Clubfoot and the Garden Wheelbarrow” which involves the bear pushing a wheelbarrow. The above-mentioned clip has once again highlighted animal abuse in circuses.

An X user commented on the video, “We as humans put them through something that is unnatural and completely foreign to them & we got the nerve to wonder why they lash out?”

Another person wrote, “All I see is justice. Circuses that (ab)use animals absolutely need to be banned. Animals do not exist for our entertainment. I see nothing wrong with an abused animal fighting their abusers. The lowlife kicking the bear in the head also should have been mauled. They deserve it.”

As a result of advocacy by animal rights groups, many prominent circuses like the Ringling Brothers have re-launched their circuses without any animals. Many countries have also announced full or partial bans on the use of wild animals for entertainment.

In 2017, the Indian Ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) passed orders cancelling the recognition of all circuses across the country that include wild animals.

Similarly, in 2019 the mayor of Magas, a city in southern Russia, banned circuses that use wild animals in their acts. Magas previously had a culture of going to circuses. Mayor Beslan Tsechoyev justified the ban and said, “Circuses are the cruellest form of animal exploitation, where they are kept in abnormal conditions. No spectacle that uses any type of animals will ever be allowed in Magas”.