A famous Russian bear tamer has been slaughtered by one of two beasts she kept at her home
Alyona Maslyanova, 50, died when a predator escaped from its cage and savaged her in Pargolovo village, near St Petersburg in Russia.
A distressing video showed the bear walking around a blood-spattered cage, before panning to the right to show her mutilated body lying face-down on the ground.
Maslyanova was from a Russian circus dynasty and also performed with bears, alongside her husband Viktor Maslyanov, and son Alexander, 17.
The teenager saw his mother being attacked as she fed the bear and he managed to escape, alerting emergency services.
Alyona Maslyanova, 50, died when a predator escaped from its cage and savaged her in Pargolovo village, near St Petersburg
Maslyanova was from a Russian circus dynasty and also performed with bears alongside her husband Viktor Maslyanov (pictured, right)
Maslyanova was a famous circus performer in Russia
She kept two bears at her home, one of which slaughtered
Police arrived but initially could not enter the premises as the killer bear was prowling near the woman’s corpse.
They stood on a rooftop watching the agitated beast.
Marksmen were summoned who shot the bear, which had not attempted to run away.
The other beast she kept at the family home was tranquilised.
The female bears were named Varya and Dasha.
The Russian Investigative Committee said: ‘The bear attacked the woman who kept two bears at her property in the village of Pargolovo.
‘The victim died at the scene. The attacking bear was shot by police officers.
‘The second bear is in an enclosure and does not pose a danger to others. The deceased woman was a professional tamer and wild animals had lived with her since 2015.’
The take had previously said: ‘It is difficult to predict the behaviour of a bear, but it is possible with special attention.
A distressing video showed the bear walking around a blood-spattered cage
Maslyanova was just 50 when she was killed by the bears
‘Since my husband and I take full care of our bears – we feed, clean, prepare for work, we see the animal’s mood and can guess what to expect from it.’
Her husband came to the scene after police arrived and was barred by officers from entering the area where his wife had died.
He lamented that his wife approached the bears in his absence.
He cried: ‘For what? Why did you do this when I wasn’t there? For what?’
He was also seen hugging his son.