• A tourist was attacked by a crocodile after climbing into its enclosure for selfies in the Philippines.
• The 29-year-old mistook the 4.5m reptile for a statue and was bitten on the arm and thigh.
• He was rescued by a caretaker and received more than 50 stitches for his injuries.

A hapless tourist climbed into a crocodile’s enclosure to pose for selfies after taking the predator for a statue - and was promptly chomped.

The male visitor, 29, found the pointy end of the 14.5m reptile at the zoo in Zamboanga Sibugay 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.

Horrified onlookers screamed at the man to leave as the angry female croc named Lalay surged toward him, sinking her fangs deep into his arm.

Gruesome footage shows the tourist wailing in pain as the predator clamps her jaws around his arm, refusing to let him leave the enclosure on April 28.

She then latched onto his thigh and flipped over several times, trying to maim him in a brutal death roll – a savage method used by crocs to tear their prey apart.

The man was attacked after trying to a selfie.

He was reportedly trapped in the pen in agony for up to 30 minutes before Lalay’s caretaker risked his own life by climbing inside and rescuing him.

The reptile handler was said to have slammed a piece of cement on to Lalay’s head, prompting her to loosen her grip. Medics wrapped the visitor’s wounded arm and thigh with cloth to stanch the bleeding before rushing him to a hospital for treatment.

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 several zookeepers present at the Kabug Mangrove Park and Wetlands zoo, but they failed to stop the tourist from breaching the fence.

The crocodile put him in a death roll.

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 because of 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.