A man in the Philippines nearly snapped the selfie of a lifetime Monday when he mistook a live crocodile for a statue.
Trying to get a photo, the 29-year-old had climbed into an enclosure at a zoo in the southern Philippines, according to O Tempo, a Brazilian news outlet.
After posing momentarily with what he thought was a crocodile statue, it suddenly ignited with life, clenching the tourist in its jaws.
WARNING: The following video contains images that some may find offensive.
Um turista de 29 anos foi atacado por um crocodilo fêmea após invadir seu recinto para tirar selfies no zoológico Zamboanga Sibugay, no sul das Filipinas. O incidente ocorreu na segunda-feira (28), quando o homem confundiu o réptil de 4,5 metros de comprimento, chamado Lalay, com… pic.twitter.com/hN5kOGUVyA
— O Tempo (@otempo) April 29, 2025
The woman recording the video, whose voice moments before had been calm, was now terror-stricken as she began to yell.
Screams echoed in the background as Lalay the crocodile, who was nearly 15 feet long, thrashed the man around by his arm and thigh.
At one point, Lalay put the tourist into a death roll, which crocodilians use to disable or kill their prey, according to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Below are some examples of a death roll.
WARNING: The following videos contains images that some may find offensive.
Deux crocodiles pratiquent le death roll pour déchiqueter leur proie 😮pic.twitter.com/Q2Kjo3zHRZ
— C’est Terrifiant (@CestTerrifiant) October 5, 2023
Crocs don’t just eat their prey—they take them for a ride in their brutal death roll. #DestinationWild pic.twitter.com/ylfSBwAgXw
— National Geographic Animals (@NatGeoAnimals) July 5, 2017
The clip of the tourist ended as he passively clung to the reptile, which had — for the moment — stopped thrashing.
After 30 minutes trapped in the animal’s jaws, a zookeeper entered the water and rescued the man, according to the U.K.’ s Daily Mail.
He reportedly slammed a piece of concrete onto Lalay’s head, causing her to let go.
Medics treated the tourist’s arm and thigh before transporting him to the hospital, where he received more than 50 stitches.
“This kind of behaviour is very dangerous. Nobody should ever enter an animal’s enclosure at the zoo,” Joel Sajolga, police staff sergeant of the Siay Municipal Police, said in reaction.
“He put other people’s lives at risk and he is very lucky to have survived,” he added.
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