Lion attacks little girl after kids were allowed to play inside enclosure
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A little girl was attacked by a young lion in Saudi Arabia, during the Jeddah Spring Festival. The children were allowed to play around the lions as part of its show, as reported by Gulf News last March 8.
The children were initially seen running and frolicking with the lion, and it was all fun and games until the lion got attracted by a ribbon from one little girl’s head. The girl found herself cornered by the lion, as it stood on its hind legs and pounced on her head with its paws.
Laughter suddenly turned into screams as the lion tackled the little girl to the ground while the other children kept their distance. More screams ensued from the audience who were watching from outside the cage.
It didn’t take long, however, for one of the handlers to come to the little girl’s rescue. The screams of the people were deemed to have added to the tension and fear during the incident. “The children were delightfully playing and the lion seemed to have been attracted by the butterfly ribbon on the head of the girl,” Faisal Aseeri, the Saudi trainer, was quoted saying by news Al Marsad via Gulf News.
The attack didn’t prove to be fatal as the lion was soon pried off from the girl. She is faring well and her condition is stable. She was not harmed since the young lion’s claws have been removed to ensure that the children won’t get hurt.
The incident also did not seem to be traumatizing for the little girl as she came back the same day to play with the other animals, according to Aseeri. He said in the report that the girl, her brothers and her father visited again “on the same day and the next day to play with a small tiger and other animals.”
The video of the lion attack may be watched below. Cody Cepeda/JB
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