Lion attacks nine year old girl in coldest region in Russia

Pictures went round the world yesterday - including from The Siberian Times on Facebook and Twitter - of a lion being taken for a walk in a village on the Sakha Republic, also known as Yakutia. The episode seemed incongruous but it also had an alarming outcome. 

The lion attacked the girl on her way home from music school in the village of Namtsy. 

Gavril Kolpashnikov, the girl's father, said: 'I was fishing, and got back at night. I saw my child in a horrible condition. To put it mildly, stressed. She's shocked, she's still shaking, she's not of those brave kids'.

He said: 'They were walking their animal as if it was a dog. We're on the way to hospital now, I don't know what they will say there'. 

The shocking incident was reported by Ysia.ru news agency, which also said the circus abruptly left the village after the attack.