Boy bitten on hand by circus tiger

A BOY has been bitten on the hand by a Bengal tiger after clambering up on to its trailer as a circus was setting up.

The 12 year old had been out skateboarding with a couple of friends in the Hérault town of Nissan-lez-Ensérune when they spotted the Landri circus.

One wagon contained a lionness and two Bengal tigers and the boy clambered up on to it. The gendarmerie told Midi Libre that as he did so he "stupidly" grabbed one of the bars of the cage and was bitten by a tiger.

He got immediate help from the circus manager who was busy putting up barriers round the vehicles and then from pompiers who took him to hospital in nearby Béziers.

His hand was not badly injured, needing just a few stitches.

On Tuesday an 18 year old youth lost the tip of a finger after being bitten by a tiger at the Zavatta circus in Mandelieu-la-Napoule (Alpes-Maritimes). The youth had been drinking and climbed on to a barrier.