Lion taming is the taming and

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or Physical fitness, fitness that relate to specific practicality, useful Competence (human resources), competencies. Training has specific goals of improving on ...

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

s, either for protection or for use in entertainment, such as the

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

. The term often applies to the taming and display of lions and other

big cats The term "big cat" is typically used to refer to any of the five living members of the genus '' Panthera'', namely the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard. Despite enormous differences in size, various cat species are quite similar ...

such as

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

black panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...

cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

s, and

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mamm ...

s. People often use lion taming as a metaphor for any dangerous activity. Lion taming occurs in

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes. The term ''zoological g ...

s 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.

Notable lion tamers

:''In chronological order'' *

George Wombwell George Wombwell, (24 December 1777 at Dudnorend, near Saffron Walden – 16 November 1850 at Northallerton), was a famous menagerie exhibitor in Regency and early Victorian Britain. He founded Wombwell's Travelling Menagerie. Life and wor ...

(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. He was known for acts of daring, such as placing his head inside the jaws of a wild cat,''History Magazine,'
"Step Right Up," October/November 2001 issue
and became known as “The Lion King.”. * Thomas Macarte (c. 1839–1872), killed during a performance in 1872 *

Martini Maccomo Martini Maccomo (died 11 January 1871) was a lion tamer in Victorian Britain. He performed with William Manders' menagerie from around 1854 and remained the group's key attraction until his death. His act involved pursuing lions and tigers aro ...

(c. 1839–1871), a lion tamer in Victorian Britain *

Carl Hagenbeck Carl Hagenbeck (10 June 1844 – 14 April 1913) was a Germans, German merchant of wild animals who supplied many European zoos, as well as P. T. Barnum. He created the modern zoo with animal enclosures without bars that were closer to their natu ...

(1844–1913), a

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

wild animal Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted fo ...

s *

Suresh Biswas Captain Suresh Biswas (1861 – 22 September 1905) was a famous 19th-century adventurer from India. Life SuresBiswaswas born in 1861 in Nathpur, Krishnaganj CD block) in Nadia district in West Bengal. He ran away from home as a teen and worked a ...

(1861–1905), Indian circus performer popular in Europe in the 1880s for taming wild animals *

Claire Heliot Claire Heliot (9 February 1866, in Halle (Saale) – 9 June 1953, in Stuttgart) was a German lion tamer. She was born Klara Haumann (Huth). Her father was a government postal official. In April 1897, she caused a sensation when she first perf ...

(1866–1953), German woman lion tamer born Klara Haumann (Huth) *

Tilly Bébé Mathilde Rupp (27 March 187911 April 1932), known by the stage name Tilly Bébé, was an Austrian circus performer. She was noted for her performances with large predators and is considered a pioneer in the performance aspects of lion taming. In ...

(1879–1932), Austrian lion and

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...

tamer *

Rose Flanders Bascom Rose Flanders Bascom, born in Contoocook, New Hampshire, Contoocook (a village of Hopkinton, New Hampshire, Hopkinton), Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County, New Hampshire in 1880, was the first United States, American woman lion tamer ...

(1880–1915), first American female lion tamer *

Mabel Stark Mabel Stark (December 10, 1889 – April 20, 1968), whose real name was Mary Ann Haynie, was a renowned tiger trainer of the 1920s. She was referred to as one of the world's first women tiger trainers/tamers. In its belated obituary, ''The Ne ...

(1889–1968), one of the world's first women tiger tamers *

Clyde Beatty Clyde Beatty (June 10, 1903 – July 19, 1965) was a famed animal trainer, zoo owner, and circus mogul. He joined Howe's Great London Circus in 1921 as a cage boy and spent the next four decades rising to fame as one of the most famous circ ...

(1903–1965), one of the pioneers of using a chair in training big cats *

Irina Bugrimova Irina Nikolayevna Bugrimova (March 13, 1910 – February 20, 2001) was the first female lion tamer in the Soviet Union. Called a "circus legend" by sources such as the BBC, Bugrimova was the first woman in Russia and the then-Soviet Union to work ...

(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. *

Ángel Cristo Ángel Papadopoulos Dordi (17 October 1944 in Huelva – 4 May 2010 in Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6 ...

(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').''El Periódico'' newspaper (May 4, 2010), article about Cristo's death. Resume of his life and rewards (in Spanish).
/ref> *

Martin Lacey Martin Lacey (born 1942) is a circus ringmaster, company director and trainer of wild animals. He trained most of the tigers that were used in the Esso television advertisements in the 1970s Professional life He has been breeding and training a ...

, (born 1947), animal trainer, owner of the

Great British Circus Great British Circus was a company that specialized in circus entertainment. Unusually for a UK-based circus company, it included wild animals such as tigers, camels and lions in its acts. Martin Lacey was the company's owner and Circus Director. ...

, trained most of the tigers used in the

ESSO Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic p ...

TV advertisements in the 1970s. *

Martin Lacey Jr. Martin Lacey Jr. (born 8 June 1977) is an English circus performer and trainer of wild animals who has achieved fame in Germany. He is the son of Martin Lacey, the circus ringmaster and animal trainer who bred most of the tigers used in the E ...

, (born 1977), son of

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

, an animal trainer and performer with Circus Krone in Munich

References

{{Circus skills Animal training Circus skills Felid-human interaction Animals in entertainment Lions in popular culture