An 11-year-old boy's right hand was ripped off by a tiger at the Cascavel Zoo in Brazil. The incident happened on Wednesday when the boy visited the zoo with his father and younger brother.
Apparently, the boy's father allowed him to climb into the restricted area where he stroked the tiger through its cage. Several zoo visitors had tried to warn the father that they are in the restricted area, but he didn't listen.
The boy was trying to give meat through the bars of the cage when the tiger ripped off his hand. Witnesses said that the victim cried "I'm going to die, I can't feel my arm," after he was mauled.
A video, which was uploaded by LiveLeak, showed that the boy was in the prohibited area feeding meat to the tiger.
A music teacher Ricardo Espindola helped the boy's father to get him first aid. He carried the boy from the restricted area and waited with the father for the ambulance.
"He was giving the tiger pieces of food, meat and stroking it. I finished looking at the animals, left, then heard the screams. I went down and saw the father running with the boy with his arm hanging. I called the ambulance. He was in shock, talking nonsense, talking that he was going to die," Espindola told LiveLeak.
The boy is currently being treated at a hospital, where doctors partially amputated his right arm.
The father was arrested and taken to the police station for questioning, but was released on bail, according to Globo.com.
A biologist at the zoo said that the tiger, called Hu, is very quiet and has been in the zoo for more than two years, according to Sky.com. Click here to check photos of the boy. [Note the photos contain graphic images]
