'Drunk' man climbs into lion enclosure

Just a day after a man was mauled during a suicide attempt in a Chilean lion enclosure, zoo keepers in India have scrambled to rescue an 'inebriated' man who climbed in a lion's den in a Hyderabad zoo.

The man, identified in media reports only as Mukesh, was reportedly drunk enough to believe he could survive a close up meeting with lions at the Nehru Zoological Park.

Thanks to the efforts of quick thinking zoo keepers, the 35-year-old was proven correct.

Video of the incident reveals screams from bystanders as Mukesh wades across a pond to come perilously close to at least two lions.

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His dangerous stunt could easily have ended in his death were it not for the efforts of staff who managed to distract the big cats long enough for others to pull the man from the enclosure.

The Hindustan Times reports Mukesh was handed over to police who intend to charge him with trespassing. =

Nehru Zoological Park Curator Shivani Dogra was quoted saying a lioness had been advancing on the drunken intruder when a keeper stepped in.

“The lioness was inside the enclosure but the person was rescued unhurt by its keeper R Papaiah,” Dogra said.

“After preliminary inquiry it was found that Mukesh was in an inebriated state and had jumped inside the enclosure to go near the lion. He has been handed over to Bahadurpura Police."

Mukesh reportedly works as a railway labourer.

The bizarre stunt comes just a day after zookeepers in South America were forced to shoot two lions after a naked man climbed into their enclosure in an apparent suicide attempt.

The man is reportedly now in a critical condition after the lions attack at Santiago Zoo in Chile.