Circus worker mauled to death by performing bear

In a misadventure that took a drastic turn, a circus worker was mauled to death by a performing bear after he secretly entered the cage while trying to get some training to become a tamer.

The incident was reported in Russia, where a cage cleaner, Valentin Bulich, 28, secretly took the keys to a bear’s cage confident he could find a common language with the performing beast.

However, his daring bid turned into his worst nightmare when the giant seven-year-old tore off his scalp and clawed his body in an agonizing attack.

Fellow workers at Great Moscow State Circus pulled grievously wounded Bulich clear of Yasha’s cage – but he died at the hospital soon afterward.

The victim’s grief-stricken mother Elena said her son overestimated his skills in handling a bear in pursuit of his dream to graduate from being a cage cleaner to handling bears. “He apparently decided that since he could cope with cubs, he would find an approach to an adult bear,” she said.

I supported him in pursuing his career, she said while telling him ‘You will not be a cleaner all your life’.”

The animal involved in the ferocious attack has now been named as Yasha – famed for being trusted enough to get up close to humans. In August, the beast gave a pre-match “pep talk” to a football team in Moscow.

Two years ago the bear pushed an injured circus gymnast in a wheelchair and licked his face after his release from the hospital. Pictures show the killer bear with his tamer Oleg Alexandrov.