This is the terrifying moment a circus bear attacked its trainer in front of screaming children after he forced the animal to perform.
The skating bear, a female named Dzhema, was being forced to perform tricks at the ironically named ‘Happiness Show’ at Mash Circus, Obnisk, Russia, on June 1.
Shocking footage captured by an audience member shows coach Oleg Krasov forcing Dzhema to sit on a chair with a pair of skates strapped to his hind legs.
Under the fluorescent lights, the bear can be seen hunched in the seat as hundreds of faces around the venue watch the sickening act unfold.
Suddenly, Krasov grabs the animal’s fur with two hands and lifts it off the chair, forcing it to stand on its hind legs.
In the footage, circus trainer Oleg Krasov is seen dragging the bear Dzhema on her hind legs after she was sitting on a chair.
After dragging her across the circus floor on his skates, Krasov walked away before the bear launched its revenge attack.
Dzhema knocked down Krasov in an attack that sent parents running from the scene with their screaming children.
He then forcefully drags Dzhema across the round, red circus floor on his skates before releasing her and quickly walking away.
But when Dzhema falls to the ground, she begins to jump towards her cruel trainer while his back is turned to her.
Seeking revenge, the bear charges at Krasov until she punches him, dragging him to the ground as he struggles to control the predator.
Dramatically waving his hands in front of him turns out to be a futile method of pushing Dzhema away from him as she maintains her position above him while audience members rise from their seats in panic.
Parents rush their screaming children out of the arena, while horrified circus workers rush onto the stage in an effort to tame the angry bear towering over Krasov.
According to local reports, Krasov survived the surprise attack without suffering serious injuries.
Afterwards, the circus management tried to pass off the attack as “normal.”
They said in a statement: ‘She did him no harm. She was actually playing with him.
‘These are your normal actions. She loves him.’
It comes just under two months after a bear attacked its handler at a circus in Zaporizhizhia, Ukraine, in front of shocked spectators.
The trainer had given the bear a “treat” before the beast turned on him.
An onlooker’s footage captured the moment the brown creature jumped on its hind legs and lunged towards the keeper in the shock attack.
The bear tore the man’s shirt with its claws, leaving large holes in the material as the trainer struggled to control the animal.
And last month, disturbing footage captured the sickening moment two bears were forced to box on their hind legs in front of a laughing audience at a cruel Russian circus.
A coach was attacked by a bear in April after giving it a treat during a performance in Ukraine.
In disturbing footage from a Russian circus, bears can be seen wearing shorts as they stand under the venue’s fluorescent lights and fight in front of hundreds of cheering spectators.
The wild beasts, removed from their natural habitats, could be seen dressed in shorts and boxing gloves in shocking videos shared online.
The animals were forced to perform in boxing rings under fluorescent lights in front of large, noisy audiences in resorts such as Sochi on the Black Sea.
Following a growing number of reports of this “cruelty”, and as more shocking images of such events are shared online, animal lovers are now calling for the practice to be brought down.
More than 116,000 people signed a petition by Russian animal rights activist Yuri Koretskikh against such cruel spectacles.
However, circuses remain popular in Russia and animals are traditionally a central element of the performances.
Koretskikh heads the Russian Alliance of Animal Protectors who said: “While modern world circus art is rapidly advancing towards humanity, banning the use of animals in circuses, the Russian circus lobby is actively resisting progress, defending its commercial interests.” .
Recent surveys show that the majority of respondents “no longer want to see animals suffer in circuses,” the campaign stated.