By METRO WEB REPORTER – 5th January, 2012
A three-year-old boy is fighting for his life after being attacked by a tiger at a travelling zoo in Russia.
The child had been posing for a photograph with the big cat next to a small fence when he was clawed in the head by the tiger, sustaining horrific injuries.
A man nearby tried to stop the attack, which took place in Blagoveshchensk, in the Amur region of Russia.
‘I hit it [the tiger] with a stick, there was a metal thing on it. But it clutched the kid very tight,’ he said.
The young boy was rushed to the Amur Regional Hospital for emergency treatment.
A doctor said: ‘The boy was brought in a bad condition, he had an emergency operation which lasted several hours.
‘He is in intensive care now, in a bad condition. It is hard to give any prognosis so far.’
Sky News reports an official of the Amur Regional Investigative Committee as saying that an investigation is looking into the incident.
‘According to the information we have, the tiger was not inside the cage, it was between the fence and the cage, so it was free,’ he said.
‘It was attached by a chain, but people were allowed behind the fence to take photographs.’
Video: Check out the Russian zoo where the attack occurred
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/886499-tiger-attack-in-zoo-leaves-three-year-old-boy-critical
Filed under: Captive Tigers, Tiger Attacks
