Tiger stunt is not ringmaster’s first protest

Fantasy Circus owner Mario Sali's lock-in with his tigers is not the first of his protest stunts.

Protesting the rescinding of his 30-day permit to hold his circus in Naxxar after first getting the green light from both MEPA and the local council, Sali is protesting against the decision by locking himself in a cage with his tigers.

But his threat to become the big cats' supper is not the first time he has pulled this act: in August 2006 Sali joined his feline friends in a bid to win an audience with the Latina prosecutor, after his animals were held up at Borgo Piave for six months by animal welfare rangers under order of a local magistrate, over animal maltreatment.

The incident started in February 2006 when Sali dismantled the Fantasy Circus from the Rome site it previously occupied, before he was found in nearby Latina.

His tigers were placed in a WWF natural reserve near Grosseto.

His first protest took place on 22 February 2006, where he entered the tigers' cage and protesting under threat of setting himself on fire.

Sali was back in a cage this week with two tigers today in protest because no place was found where his circus could be set up.

Circo Fantasy was last night planning to set up again at an alternative site today after failing to find an alternative site following an afternoon of talks with the planning authority.

On Tuesday, MEPA ordered the circus to close down after its 30-day permit to operate from Naxxar expired. It gave the operators 16 days to pack up and leave.

The next day, Sali locked himself in a cage with two large tigers for five hours in protest against the order after he had obtained police, veterinary and local council permits to run the circus in Naxxar until January 6.

A MEPA spokesman said the circus, being a temporary structure, did not need a planning permit to be set up but, according to planning regulations, temporary structures had to be removed within 30 days. This period was up in Naxxar.

The circus employs 45 artists and was scheduled to stay in Malta until 6 January.