SAUDI ARABIA- Imagine spotting a tiger being walked around in a market on a leash.

Footage shows one such predator being taken around the public area in the northwestern part of the kingdom - just yards from shoppers, the Mail Online reported.

While some children ran at the sight of the tiger, a little girl aged about six wanders too close. In the blink of an eye, she is grabbed by the tiger in its paws and pinned to the ground. She is heard screaming in the video, which is then cut off abruptly .

The Mail Online reported that witnesses said the tiger's handler rescued the girl before the tiger had a chance to harm her.

Authorities in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have often warned people about the dangers of keeping wild animals in their homes.

But the practice is popular among the Middle East's rich youth, who view it as a status symbol.

Attacks by such pet animals have been reported. In 2014, a Filipina household worker was killed by a lion her employer kept as a pet. She survived the initial attack but died of her injuries five days later.