Featured Image Credit: Viral Press
Topics: Animals, World News, Viral
Poppy Bilderbeck
A tourist climbed a fence into a Philippines zoo crocodile enclosure and the reason is the 'such a stupid thing'.
On April 28, tourists visited Kabug Mangrove Park and Wetlands zoo in Zamboanga Sibugay, Philippines as like any other day.
However, for one 29-year-old, they would come out of the zoo lucky to be alive.
Police Staff Sergeant Joel Sajolga of the Siay Municipal Police told local media the tourist was 'walking around the area' when he spotted a crocodile.
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He then proceeded to 'climb the fence, enter the enclosure' and ultimately, ended up brutally attacked by the reptile.
But why would anyone do such a thing?
Well, the tourist reportedly spotted the crocodile and believed it was a statue given how still it was - despite the fact it was also lying behind a fence, at a zoo.
Nevertheless, apparently in the belief the croc posed no harm and was simply a statue, the tourist then decided it would be the perfect opportunity for a selfie with the ultra-realistic-looking reptile.
Alas, the tourist realised too little too late, the croc was very much real.
I wouldn't blame you if you thought I was making this up, but Sgt. Sajolga is quoted as saying: "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."
Once the man had entered the cage and nestled up close to get a snap, the croc's jaws followed a similar motion.
Onlookers screamed at the man to get out but it was too late - the croc, a 15ft-long reptile named Lalay - crunching its jaws around the tourist's arm.
Oh and to make the whole ordeal even more sickly, the incident was all captured on camera too.
A video shows the croc sinking her teeth into the tourist's arm before moving on to nab a bite of his thigh.
She then flipped him over, rotating him in a move known as the 'death roll' - a move performed by crocodile and alligators as a result of the reptiles reportedly being unable to chew.
"They use a powerful bite coupled with a full-bodied twisting motion - a death roll - to disable, kill, and dismember prey into smaller pieces," the University of Tennessee, Knoxville explains.
Around 30 minutes later and an animal handler is reported as having arrIved at the scene, using a slab of concrete to bonk the animal over the head and release it's grip.
Miraculously for the tourist, they've lived to tell the tale, rushed to hospital where they received more than 50 stitches.
While onlookers were 'glad the man is alive,' others questioned 'why he would do such a stupid thing'.
Sgt. Sajolga ultimately resolved: "This kind of behavior 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."