The scene, which spread widely online, began with a display of 3 tigers standing on chairs, while the trainer and her assistant walk on stage, separated from the audience by a circular net.
Khaberni - In a frightening yet safe incident, a tiger suddenly fled from the fence towards the audience during a show at a circus in Rostov, southern Russia.
Terrifying footage from the incident, which took place on Sunday, shows the tiger causing chaos among the spectators, after a sudden fall of the net that separated the predators from the audience, giving it the opportunity to escape.
However, due to what appeared to be a mechanical failure, the net suddenly descended, and the tiger took the opportunity to jump into the spectator area.
Some of the spectators were seen standing to watch the fleeing tiger and taking photos, while others headed towards the exits.
Other footage, taken a minute or two later, shows almost empty seats, while the tiger roams back and forth between the rows, later exiting the circus arena after the intervention of its trainer.
According to a local newspaper report, the tiger was recaptured a short distance from the circus tent.
The circus director Nikolai Dovgaluk said: "A trainer put a collar on the tiger and led it back to the pen and returned it safely".
He added: "This does not mean there was no danger to the public, but these are tamed tigers, meaning they are trained as pets, and most importantly, there was no panic, so no incident occurred".
