Shocking footage has emerged of a bear dressed in a football kit predicting World Cup scores on a Russian breakfast news show amid a row over animal cruelty in the country.
BBC presenter Dan Walker shared a clip from the “truly grim” programme with his Twitter followers – sparking widespread outrage.
The clip shows a large bear dressed in white shorts and a blue t-shirt walking on its hind legs and placing footballs in barrels, in order to predict the score of the day’s games.
Walker wrote: “The Russian equivalent of BBC Breakfast has a massive bear, dressed in a football kit, predicting the results of matches. I think he might be an England fan.”
The presenter later apologised for the tone of his tweet and said he was “amazed” they could still get away with using a bear.
Fellow presenter Jake Humphrey called it “horrible”, writing: “How in 2018, is this still passing for entertainment?!? Not funny, in the slightest.”
BBC 5 Live Breakfast host Nicky Campbell called the show “absolutely disgusting” and “heartbreaking”.
Hundreds of other Twitter users labelled it “sickening” and “awful” and called for investigation into alleged animal abuse in Russia.
Videos circulating online showed the bear blowing the horn - made famous at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa - in the back of a jeep.
The footage was reportedly filmed after Russia's 5-0 defeat of Saudi Arabia in the opening game of the tournament last week.
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The creature is believed to be a circus bear named 'Tima' which was at the centre of controversy after it was used in a pre-match performance in the Russian third division earlier this year.
Elia Allen, the director of animal welfare charity Peta, said of that incident: "In addition to being inhumane and utterly out of touch, using a bear as a captive servant to deliver a football is downright dangerous."
