A brazen tourist was seen climbing into a crocodile’s enclosure to pose for selfies – only to be attacked by the beast.
The male visitor, 29, is said to have mistaken the 15ft reptile for a statue at the zoo in the south of the Philippines.
He clambered over a chain-link fence and waded through the water before grinning as he produced his smartphone.
Medics wrapped the visitor’s wounded arm and thigh with cloth to stanch the bleeding before rushing him to a hospital where he received more than 50 stitches.
Police Staff Sergeant Joel Sajolga of the Siay Municipal Police said: ‘The tourist was walking around the area, then he saw the crocodile, which he thought was just a plastic fixture.
‘He climbed the fence and entered the enclosure, and the crocodile attacked him.’
The policeman said there were a number of zookeepers present at the Kabug Mangrove Park and Wetlands zoo, but they failed to stop the tourist from breaching the fence.
He added: ‘This kind of behaviour is very dangerous. Nobody should ever enter an animal’s enclosure at the zoo.
‘He put other people’s lives at risk and he is very lucky to have survived.’
Locals who recorded the reckless stunt said the man waded through the shallow pool to pose alongside the reptile for pictures.
He is understood to have mistaken Lalay for a life-size model due to how still she was.
Onlooker Canete Jie said: ‘I don’t know why he would do such a stupid thing, but I’m glad the man is alive and the crocodile just let him go. His leg wasn’t broken, but he suffered arm and thigh wounds.’
The zoo has not made a comment on the incident.