This is the terrifying moment that a lion overpowered his trainer, biting his arm and clawing at him.

Hamada Kouta, 32, was floored by the big cat which turned aggressive in the ring during a performance in Ukraine.

The lion eventually retreated as Kouta fought back and eventually returned to its cage after a tense stand-off.

A mother watching with her two children said: ‘My heart stopped when the lion pounced at the trainer.’

‘Of course, I was covered in blood, but I asked everybody to calm down, and started the performance all over again, from the beginning.’

He admitted that the lions were unsettled because they were made to perform so soon after arriving in their new location.

He said: ‘They did not have time to adapt, because we arrived and immediately began to perform. They were in stress, so it led to attack.’

He added: ‘they can be moody, like people. For example, you can wake up in the morning in the bad mood. That’s it, the whole day will be like this. They are just the same.’

Despite his scars all over his body he said ‘I trust my predators more than people.

‘People are the most dangerous creatures. You can talk to a person, be friends with him, and then you turn your back to him and he stabs you.

‘Predators are different, they are serious, they never cheat. But there is a red line, if you step over – it may go wrong way….

‘When an animal attacks a trainer, it is 99 per cent the trainer’s mistake. Anyway, they are my children, so I know anything can happen.

‘But it will never end with death, because they are my children. I know them and I trust them more than I trust people.

‘It was all right, I calmed down the spectators and we went on. Of course, I became lame, it hurts everywhere, because these are teeth.

‘One tooth was inside the muscle, right there and it is serious, and down it is serious too, but it’s okay.

But Lugansk where the incident happened is currently outside Kiev’s rule.

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