A crowd of some 300 protested against circus animal cruelty and exploitation this evening as a circus started presenting its shows in Floriana.

The protesters walked from City Gate to Floriana Granaries, where the circus has been set up.

The crowd included representatives of 20 NGOS which form the Circus Animal Rights Coalition.

Some of those present shouted' No to animal cruelty No to animal circuses'.They also carried banners against animal cruelty and jeered and booed the people who walked into the circus tent.

No incidents were reported.

A spokesman for the coalition said the NGOs were concerned that notwithstanding the public's opposition to the exploitation of animals in circuses, JS Productions had still brought to Malta a circus which featured animals.

In the morning, circus organisers Silvio Zammit and Johann Said said the circus featured two lions, two bears, a tiger and a hippo. They were born in captivity and cared for in line with EU rules, they insisted.

The circus also features acrobats, trapeze artists, jugglers and a water show.

Video shows the scene at the circus this morning and the protest in the evening