Lion taming

{{Short description|Training big cats for performance}} {{Redirect|Lion tamer|the film|The Lion Tamer{{!}}''The Lion Tamer''|the song by Faithless|Outrospective}} {{Infobox Occupation | name= Lion tamer | image= Lion tamer (LOC pga.03749).jpg | caption= 19th-century lithograph of a lion tamer | official_names=  | type= Performing arts | activity_sector= Entertainment, show business | competencies= | formation= | employment_field= Circus | related_occupation= Animal trainer | average_salary= }} [[Image:Gerd Siemoneit-Barum.jpg|thumb|Circus director and lion tamer Gerd Siemoneit-Barum during a performance in Nordenham, Germany in May 1977]]

'''Lion taming''' is the taming and training of lions, either for protection or for use in entertainment, such as the circus. The term often applies to the taming and display of lions and other big cats such as tigers, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs, and cougars. Lion taming is used as a popular metaphor for any dangerous activity. Lion taming occurs in zoos around the world to enable the keepers to carry out medical procedures and feedings.

The Captive Animals Protection Society maintains that animal welfare cannot be guaranteed in circuses.<ref name=CAPS>{{cite web|title=Circuses|url=http://www.captiveanimals.org/our-work/circuses|publisher=Captive Animal Protection Society|access-date=4 December 2012}}</ref> The use of lions in circuses have been affected by bans on circus animals in some countries.

==Notable lion tamers==  : ''In chronological order'' * George Wombwell (1777–1850), founder of Wombwell's Traveling Menagerie, raised many animals himself, including the first lion bred in captivity in Britain. * Isaac A. Van Amburgh (1811–1865), American animal trainer who developed the first trained wild animal act in modern times.<ref name="Culhane(1990)a">{{cite book|last=Culhane|first=John|title=The American circus : an illustrated history|year=1990|publisher=Holt|location=New York|isbn=0805004246|edition=1st|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/americancircusil00culh}}</ref>{{rp|20}} He was known for acts of daring, such as placing his head inside the jaws of a wild cat,<ref name="History">[https://web.archive.org/web/20230206105447/http://www.history-magazine.com/circuses.html "Step Right Up"], ''History Magazine'', October/November 2001 issue.</ref> and became known as "The Lion King".<ref name="Culhane(1990)a"/>{{rp|17}} * Thomas Macarte (c. 1839–1872), killed during a performance in 1872<ref>[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/30582739 DEATH 'OF MASSARTI, THE LION TAMER'. HORRIBLE SCENE - ''The Queanbeyan Age''] (NSW : 1867 - 1904) 21 March 1872, Page 3 - National Library of Australia</ref><ref>John Stewart, [https://books.google.com/books?id=8hvjsAqbsbkC&pg=PA208 ''The Acrobat: Arthur Barnes and the Victorian Circus''], McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers (2012) - Google Books p. 208</ref><ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/dying-bizarre-history-onstage-deaths/ He's dying up there: the macabre, surprisingly funny history of onstage deaths - ''The Daily Telegraph''], 10 September 2019]</ref> * Martini Maccomo (c. 1839–1871), a lion tamer in Victorian Britain<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 January 1862 |title=Attack by a Lion on Maccomo |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-essex-county-standard-etc-attack-b/110511132/ |access-date=26 March 2026 |work=Essex County Standard |pages=3}}</ref> * Carl Hagenbeck (1844–1913), a merchant of wild animals * Suresh Biswas (1861–1905), Indian circus performer popular in Europe in the 1880s for taming wild animals<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sen |first=Paromita |date=17 November 2018 |title=The Royal Bengal Lion-tamer |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/the-royal-bengal-lion-tamer/cid/1675615 |access-date=26 March 2026 |website=The Telegraph Online}}</ref> * Hezekiah Moscow (c. 1862–c. 1901), Jamaican boxer who worked as a lion tamer in the mid-1880s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cormack |first=Morgan |title=A Thousand Blows true story {{!}} Who was the real-life Hezekiah Moscow? |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/a-thousand-blows-disney-plus-true-story/ |access-date=25 March 2026 |website=Radio Times |language=en-GB}}</ref> * Claire Heliot (1866–1953), German lion tamer, born Klara Haumann (Huth) * Tilly Bébé (1879–1932), Austrian lion and polar bear tamer<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50437923/a-girl-among-lions-1-march-1903/ "A Girl Among Lions"], ''Chicago Tribune'', 1 March 1903, p. 44.</ref> * Rose Flanders Bascom (1880–1915), first American female lion tamer * Mabel Stark (1889–1968), one of the world's first women tiger tamers * Clyde Beatty (1903–1965), one of the pioneers of using a chair in training big cats * Irina Bugrimova (1911–2001), the first female lion tamer in Russia * Gunther Gebel-Williams (1934–2001), a world-famous animal trainer for the Red Unit with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ringling.com/ggw/ |title=Lord of the Rings: Gunther Gebel-Williams, 1934–2001 |publisher=Ringling.com |access-date=2009-01-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203181622/http://www.ringling.com/ggw/ |archive-date=2009-02-03 }}</ref> * Siegfried & Roy. Performer duo of Siegfried Fischbacher (1939–2021) and Roy Horn (1944–2020), while primarily known as magicians, they were famous as big cat handlers. Their Las Vegas show featured dozens of white lions and tigers. * Ángel Cristo (1943–2010), the most famous lion and tiger tamer in Spain, known for his numerous accidents under lion and tiger attacks. In 1982 he won the ''Medalla de Oro del Festival Internacional del Circo'' ('Golden Medal of the Circus International Festival').<ref>[http://www.elperiodico.com/es/noticias/gente/20100504/domador-fieras-empresario-circo-angel-cristo-fallece-madrid/258174.shtml ''El Periódico'' newspaper (May 4, 2010), article about Cristo's death. Resume of his life and rewards (in Spanish).]</ref> * Martin Lacey (born 1947), animal trainer, owner of the Great British Circus, trained most of the tigers used in the ESSO TV advertisements in the 1970s. * Martin Lacey Jr. (born 1977), son of Martin, an animal trainer and performer with Circus Krone in Munich

== In popular culture == The 1941 circus film ''The Wagons Roll at Night'' tells the story of the rookie lion tamer Matt Varney. In the finale, the circus manager Nick Coster tries to have him killed in the lion cage by giving Matt an unloaded tamer's gun. A couple of lion tamers are the protagonists of the French film ''Roselyne and the Lions'' (1989).

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Animal training Category:Circus animals Category:Circus skills Category:Lions and humans