03-05-2025
Tourist taking selfie with 'fake' crocodile realises his mistake the hard way
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A tourist ended up in the mouth of a crocodile after believing the animal was a prop.
The visitor, 29, had climbed over a fence to take a selfie with the reptile at a zoo in Zambonga Sibugay in the Philippines.
Video taken at Kabug Mangrove Park and Wetlands zoo shows the tourist grinning and posing next to the croc, called Lalay, before it sprung into action.
The 15-foot female reptile suddenly snapped and sang her fangs into the man.
He can be seen screaming out in agony as her jaw remains tightly latched onto his arm.
Lalay then bites into the 29-year-old's thighs before attempting a deadly death roll, which is how croc's try to tear their prey apart.
Zoo-goers watched on in horror as the attack continued for half an hour before zookeepers intervened.
Lalay's handler bashed her on the head with a piece of cement, causing her to loosen her grip and let go of the man.
The croc victim was urgently taken to hospital where he needed 50 stitches.
Police Staff Sergeant Joel Sajolga of the Siay Municipal Police told local media said it was pureluck the man survived.
He 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.
'This kind of behavior is very dangerous. Nobody should ever enter an animal's enclosure at the zoo. More Trending
'He put other people's lives at risk and he is very lucky to have survived.'
Encounters with crocs can often be deadly, as one beachgoer found out this year.
A crocodile bit a swimmer Talise Beach in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, on March 27 this year.
The reptile then thrashed him around in a 'death roll', before swimming away while clutching his body in its jaws.
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