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For decades, the El-Helw family symbolized Egypt’s circus royalty — dazzling audiences with lions, tigers, and high-risk performances. But behind the spotlights and standing ovations lies a long and bloody record of negligence, human tragedy, and animal suffering.
The truth about the El-Helw Circus legacy demands exposure!
A Documented History of Negligence
The list of incidents tied to the El-Helw family is long and disturbing:
- 1970s: Mohamed El-Helw (the father), the family’s original star trainer, was killed by a lion named Sultan during a performance after being bitten while greeting the audience.
- 1997: A 16-year-old boy named Ahmed Mohamed Sulaiman was killed by a lion while feeding it at the National Circus; only his clothes were found.
- 1997: A circus worker named Sulaiman was attacked by a tiger, leading to the amputation of his leg.
- 2014: Trainer Medhat Kouta was mauled while trying to stop a fight between two lions during a show.
- 2023: Faten El-Helw was attacked by a lion during a performance while dancing to the song “Boshret Kheir,” narrowly escaping death.
- 2025: The Tanta circus attack, leaving a young worker permanently disabled after a tiger mauled him during a live performance.
Beyond circuses, Egypt saw similar negligence at Fayoum Zoo when a worker was killed by a lion while feeding it — showing a country-wide failure to regulate how wild animals are handled.
Recent Proof of Abuse
Alongside these tragedies, a new video has surfaced showing a man riding a lion that appears drugged, scarred, and barely conscious. Though unrelated to the recent Tanta attack, this footage provides undeniable evidence of the brutal conditions animals endure under circus trainers like the El-Helw family.
A Legacy Built on Suffering
These repeated incidents aren’t isolated “accidents.” They are the natural outcome of forcing wild animals into environments of stress, violence, and cruelty. Public safety is compromised, lives are lost, and animals suffer.
Circuses relying on wild animals not only endanger performers and workers but create a system where abuse is normalized behind the scenes.
This Legacy Demands Scrutiny, Not Celebration
The El-Helw family’s legacy should not be glorified. It should be investigated.
Officials must:
- Launch a formal investigation into the El-Helw family’s operations.
- Ban the use of wild animals in circuses permanently.
- Rehabilitate the animals that have been subjected to years of cruelty.
Wild animals belong in nature — not in cages, not under whips, and certainly not being ridden for human applause.
The time for action is long overdue.
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of El-Shai.com and the crazy cat lady your mother warned you not to become!
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