Man has finger bitten off by lion after teasing It through cage, incident caught on cam [Watch]

Not long ago, a zookeeper had his finger bitten off by a lion after he poked his hand through the bars of its cage. The video of the incident has captured the horrifying moment in which the man can be seen trying to pull his hand away, while the lion continues to hang in there.

The video of the horrifying incident diaplays a zookeeper at Jamaica Zoo putting his finger into the cage in front of around 15 visitors. He tries to touch the animal as if he was playing with it.

The zookeeper ignores the lion's snarling and continues to tease it. However, seconds into the video, one can see the dangerous animal striking and clamping its jaws around the attendant's finger.

Watch the video here:

The zookeeper ended up losing his finger entirely. Talking to Jamaica Observer, an eyewitness said that the zookeeper was showing off to onlookers when it all went horribly wrong. “When it happened, I thought it was a joke,” the woman said, adding, “I didn't realise the seriousness of it, because it's their job to put on a show.”

However, the eye witness said that when the man fell to the ground everybody knew that it was serious. The woman further explained that the whole skin and about the first joint of the zookeeper's finger were bitten off.

The horrifying incident has caused concern for the lion's welfare and treatment by the zoo attendants. Jamaica Observer reported that the managing director at the Jamaica Society for the Preventional of Cruelty to Animals, Pamela Lawson, has said that the incident would be looked into.

In a statement, Jamaica Zoo assured that the zoo is a safe place to be for both people and animals. It explained that the actions displayed in the video are of a “contractor” of the zoo. Dubbing the incident “tragic”, the statement mentioned that the video doesn’t show the safety measures and policies that must be adhered to.

Furthermore, the zoo added, "It is an unfortunate event that should never have happened, and we - the family of Jamaica Zoo - are doing everything to assist the gentleman moving forward."

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