Every morning Landy goes out in his car to look for food for his three lions, the 5-year-old felines were born in captivity in the Camagüey zoo and since they were three months old they began to train for a sports show, which requires a lot of love, perseverance and puts the coach at risk.

Thus, with his own means, he strives so that his three great friends are well cared for, fed and healthy. That is why with so much pride he shows us how strong and clean they look in his central cage, where for some time the show has been presented every Sunday.

The passion for animals and the taste for danger are two hallmarks in the life of Orlando Leiva Cardoso, the only lion tamer in Cuba and who from Camagüey continues betting that this circus distraction is not lost forever.

History

Since 1989 he began this adventure in the Areito circus and has already spent 30 years in the art of taming beasts, but since his beginnings as a trapeze artist, he was attracted to animals, which at that time were cared for by other specialists. As we see this man is pure adrenaline.

He achieved a lot with his lions without mistreating them, commanding respect and achieving a strange relationship of complicity, his ways of making allowed him to interact with other species in Caribbean countries.

His vast knowledge in his trade makes the public admire and recognize Landy, above all, for the courage to enter a cage with such calm.

The work stopped when the circus was left without a tent and without cages for the animals, the Council for the Performing Arts in coordination with the government in the territory, insisted on making the space that they currently have located in the Casino Campestre and restarted the amusing show, but static, they no longer have the transportation to take their art to the municipalities.

Experience

Looking at this man with a kind expression, you cannot imagine how brave he is, because entering a cage with lions is a challenging act, which he enjoys for the love he professes for animals.

When talking about them his eyes light up, he shows skills and insists that taming is an act of collusion, it should not be by force, he sees it as normal that the beasts attack him because by training them he is forcing them to do something they may not want, but when he manages to show the artistic number and receives the applause of the children with amazed eyes, he feels so proud.

He says that sometimes the lions become spoiled and disobedient, because the material conditions do not always allow daily training and although he comes to visit and feed them every morning, losing continuity affects discipline.

A team of workers attend to the beasts with equal care, but their trainer likes to be nearby.

A memory

As we pass the second perimeter fence of the cages, to take some photos, Landy talks to Gomero, the leader of the pack, like a pampering father, while Cristóbal and Edy watch us carefully, ask him what’s going on and show his teeth: could it be a form of greeting?

I stay still and he says… It’s okay, they’ve accepted you for a visit, they see how calm you are and they don’t startle, it seems that dad understands his out-of-body language.

A no so happy encounter

Landy’s face changes… then he confesses an unhappy experience, an accident that left him in serious condition for 9 days, in training with other lions, a few years ago.

They attacked him and the wound was so big that his intestines came out; he does not really know how he managed to get out alive and get medical attention. That is why he insists on keeping his distance and never being alone with the animals, it can be very dangerous.

However, that did not stop him, passion is greater than fear and he returned to his work, when he recovered he continued training his attackers and the experience helped him to do better, which facilitated the new project with the current ones.

Feelings

Landy loves the lions, so much that his company does not have transportation and on his own he looks for food, medicine and everything that is needed to keep them well, he confesses that he has lost marriages for spending so much time with his animals.

They are very important for him and he would never leave them abandoned to their fate, they are like his youngest children. Hence, he is worried because he does not have a replacement and wants to retire next year. He very strongly wants to give continuity to his work, because he cannot conceive of a circus without animals.

As I told you at the beginning, Orlando Leiva is a brave and risky man, with a hard shell, but when we reach his heart, we can feel how much affection he has for the king of the jungle and the two accompanying princes: I ask for applause for this artist from the Areito Circus in Camagüey, thank you for gifting children and adults with such a unique show.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García