Olga was Vladimir's daughter. The Borisov's had been in lions for three generations. Vladimir's grandfather and father started with adults (...), but Vladimir started training his lions at a young age. Nearly all animals he had were from zoo's.
Both Vladimir and Olga stated it wasn't easy. When, after a show, asked if the lions were always easy-going and friendly, Olga said: " ... No. You always have to take care with predators. You can't look an animal into his eye, as it would be a challenge. You can never turn your back at them. It isn't easy at all to train male lions. Love and a strong character are not enough. Training is, like all circus-acts, hard work. There are thousands of details one has got to get used to. Same for the animals ... " (Tiede, pp. 26).
This is Vladimir with one of his males. Same animal to the right. Close contact with predators is always seeen as tricky. Most modern trainers I interviewed stated it's dangerous. But the Borisov's did it, just like many others in those days. Moscow State Circus, 1972.
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