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Egypt lion tamer brings big cats home to perform amid pandemic

Once shooting is finished, the animals are taken back to the farm where some 40 other animals live

May 4, 2020 at 1:45 pm

Following the Egyptian government’s orders to temporarily shut down the National Circus amid the coronavirus pandemic, Ashraf El-Helw from the famous lion-taming El-Helw family, has transported his lions home in order to continue performing and to keep people entertained during the nightly curfews.

According to Arab News, El-Helw brought the big cats back to the family apartment in Cairo using his own jeep and has allocated a designated space for the wild animals to perform tricks, posting videos online on his official Instagram account. One such performer is Joumana a five-year old lioness.

“The show was easy since I usually hold lots of performances and take part in entertainment shows and pranks that depend on lions. I grew up with lion cubs at home,” he said.

When not performing, the lions are said to be kept on the family’s farm an hour outside Cairo. Once shooting is finished, the animals are taken back to the farm where some 40 other animals live.

READ: Lions starve to death in Yemen’s national zoo 

With training being carried out at home, El-Helw acknowledges the challenges: “Changing the venue was rather hard for the animals because they are used to the circus.”

The family encouraged me to hold an online performance via social media. However, they did not expect me to be in such good control of the situation because it was the first time to have the lions at home.

However, despite receiving rave responses others have highlighted animal rights abuse and mistreatment. Dina Zulfakkar, an animal rights activist and board member of the Giza Zoo, said that bringing wild animals into homes was against the law. She also said that the video posted by El-Helw on social media “gives the wrong impression regarding how dangerous lions can be.”

“This is an irresponsible and foolish behaviour,” she said. “They are not pets, they are wild animals.”

Ashraf’s sister Bushra, who is also in the family business, sees them as her children.

The El-Helws have been doing circus shows with the big cats for over a century. Ashraf’s grandmother was a renowned circus performer, Mahassen El-Helw, the Arab world’s first female lion trainer, known as the ‘Iron Woman’. Egypt has six female lion-tamers, where only 25 per cent of women work. Ashraf is the grandson of famed tamer Mohamed El-Helw who began performing in the late 19th century, he was mauled to death during a live show by one of his lions in 1972, other relatives have sustained injuries over the years.

READ: ‘Lions obey me because I show them love,’ says Egypt’s female tamer