Tiger attacks little girl in Saudi Arabia

A young girl has survived after being attacked by a tiger in a shock attack caught on film.

The tiger's handler was leading it around near a market in Sakaka in north-western Saudi Arabia.

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Filmed by an onlooker, the tiger, on a leash, is seen walking calmly along beside its handler.

Some children see it and run off in fright.

But a little girl, aged about six, wanders too close - and the tiger grabs her in its paws and pins her to the ground.

She screams and the handler immediately begins to prise the animal away from her.

The video ends there but witnesses said he rescued the girl before the tiger had a chance to harm her.

However, social media commenters raged about the obvious lack of security and safety procedures at the event.

One quoted anonymously by local media wrote: "Even if the tiger is tamed, this was a dangerous situation that could have been fatal for the young girl or other spectators."

'Khalid Al Mutairi' wrote: "This is a wild animal and its instinct is to attack, so regardless of the time spent taming it, its nature never changes and its killing-readiness remains strong.

"All the necessary measures should be taken to ensure the highest levels of safety. Unfortunately, some people today look at keeping wild animals as a harmless fashion."

A trend for keeping exotic animals has emerged in recent years among the Middle East's rich youth.

Authorities in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - have often warned people about the dangers of keeping wild animals in their homes.

But the practice has become a status symbol, and animals are easy to advertise and buy via social media. The combination of these factors has led to several attacks.

In March a female lion attacked and killed a Kuwaiti man after breaking free from the rope that held it. She broke the man's neck.

A Filipino household worker was killed by a lion her employer kept as a pet in 2014. She survived the initial attack but died of her injuries five days later.