Responding to the news that the use of wild animals in circuses is to be banned in Wales from 1 December 2020, Dr Chris Draper, Born Free’s Head of Animal Welfare & Captivity, said:
In March this year, a man was mauled to death by his pet lion. The man, from the Czech Republic, had kept the lion – as well as a lioness – in a cage in the back garden of his family home for three years.
Also known as an ankus or goad, a bullhook it is a stout pole with a metal hook and a metal tip on the end. It is used in training and controlling elephants by a handler applying pressure to sensitive points on an elephant’s body.