Circus will not put tiger down after employee attack
MULDERSDRIFT— a circus worker sustained lacerations to the neck after a tiger attacked him during a routine cage cleaning on Sunday.
A man is in a stable condition at a local hospital after he was attacked by a tiger at the McLarens Circus in Muldersdrift on 25 August.
The victim – who is a worker at the circus – sustained a severe bite wound and lacerations on his neck and chest.
“We found the man lying on the ground when we arrived on the scene and immediately started working on stabilising him before we transported him to hospital,” said Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha.
The circus owner, David McLaren, clarified that the tiger did not escape from its cage but attacked the man while he was cleaning the cage.
“The man was inside the cage cleaning it and forgot to put the safety clip on and that is how the animal accessed him. It’s a huge tragedy and unfortunately, it’s part of human error but this is the first time something like this happens in the 10 years we have been operating.”
The McLarens Circus was on from 21 to 24 August
