Circus lion tamer attack

The moment a circus performance went horribly wrong for a Ukrainian lion tamer has been caught on video by an American tourist.

The footage shows a lion lunging and striking, before being joned by another and then biting down on the trainer's left arm.

Tamer Oleksie Pinko is knocked to the ground as he desperately tries to herd the big cats out of the ring.

At one point, one of the lions almost leaps out of the net surrounding the ring and into the crowd.

Mr Pinko was taken to hospital to undergo emergency surgery and is said to be in a stable condition.

The footage was shot by US tourist Doug Sheperd, who was at the show in the Ukrainian city of Lviv with his wife and two children.