Kimba, a fully grown male lion, was felled by a tranquiliser dart and returned to the Rony Roller Circus at Ladispoli where his tamer, Rony Vassallo, said he was still wondering “who let the lion out”.
Some 60 animal rights activists demonstrated outside the circus Sunday night to call for the ban.
“It’s time to implement a ban on animals in circuses,” said Francesco Emilio Borrelli, an MP from the Green-Left Alliance (AVS).
“The images of Kimba’s capture are not worthy of a civilised country. Not even the worst mafioso would have been treated like that.”
Vassallo, the tamer, said “they should come and live with us for a while and see how well we treat our animals, from the very start when we lovingly feed them with baby bottles”.
He said that the padlock on KImba’s cage had been found unlocked, and said he suspected some activist might have come in and freed the animal.
Images of Kimba on the loose in Ladispoli went viral worldwide.
ANSA
