Blood burst everywhere as a baby’s thumb was ripped off by a tiger after the mother of the child held him too close to the enclosure of the beast.
According to reports the incident happened at the Taigan Safari Park in Crimea.
The tiger is owned by a famous “Tiger Whisperer” who allows visitors to mingle with the cats.
Talking about the incident, 22-year-old Anastasia G, the mother, said that her son, Leon, had his left thumb completely ripped off.
She added:
I took Leon into my arms. We were standing behind the fence, and there is a distance of about 30cm between the fence and the net that separates visitors and animals. Everything was perfect – until I suddenly realized there was blood bursting, and my son had lost his thumb. My boy was yelling, crying, screaming. was in such shock I couldn’t think. I ran to get help with him in my arms.
The mother rushed Leon to a nurse at a first aid point.
An ambulance was later called and it took Leon to a hospital in Simferopol.
The mother went on:
I didn’t hear any sounds like a roar, or anything to alert me to danger. Other visitors who saw it said that a tiger jumped from somewhere above, and pulled my son’s arm with one of its claws.
The bars of the enclosure had a gap, which allowed the big cat to poke its paw outside the enclosure, said the mother.
The Taigan Safari Park in Crimea, which is occupied by Russia, has not yet commented on the incident.
Investigators of the incident currently believe that the mother went beyond a safety barrier, however, the mother denies such thing.
Oleg Zubkov is the owner of the park.