Guatemala circus worker arms ripped off feeding starving tigers: How one circus may have broken safety guides for the sake of show performances.
Cipriano Avarez a 55 year old Guatemala circus worker has had both his arms ripped off after leaning into a makeshift cage while feeding tigers.
Local media reported the circus worker losing the limbs after putting his hands too far through the metal bars to give the animals a bucket of water to drink from.
The incident which nearly led to Avarez nearly being mauled to death happened at a circus in the village of El Jocotillo.
Locals saved the 55-year-old’s life by throwing stones at the tigers and beating them with sticks so they could free him from the animals’ clutches.
An ambulance rushed Cipriano to hospital and medics managed to keep him alive with an emergency operation.
Despite saving the man’s life, medics were unable to save the man’s arms after tigers had feasted on the man’s hands reported the dailymail.
Guatemala circus worker arms ripped off feeding tigers: How circus owners/management sacrificed safety standards for show performances.
Local media reported the attack following two months after Cipriano agreeing to look after the 13 tigers so he could feed his family.
Son Victor Hugo said he normally used metal rods to remove the plates he gave the animals their food on.
He said his dad had been instructed to feed the tigers two days and leave them without food on the third. It wasn’t immediately clear what safety standards may have been breached and whether circus management risked aggravating the animals withholding them food. A course of action which likely left the animals agitated and a better show attraction.
Jimmy Navarro, regional director of a government agency called CONAP which is responsible for the conservation and sustainable use of Guatemala’s biological diversity, said officials had confirmed 13 big cats, a llama and a camel were being kept in cages on waste ground in the village.
Local reports said the site was being used temporarily by the circus owners before a permanent move to more suitable accommodation in Belize.
The animals’ owners are said to have agreed to pay Cipriano’s medical bills. It remained unclear if the owners also accepted culpability for the acts and what financial arrangement they might offer to the circus worker, if any….
Cipriano remains in intensive care at Cuilapa Hospital in Santa Rosa.