The male visitor, 29, is said to have mistaken the 15ft reptile for a statue at the zoo 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 yesterday afternoon.
Gruesome footage shows the tourist wailing in pain as the predator clamps her jaws around his arm, refusing to let him leave the enclosure in Zamboanga Sibugay.
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 crocodiles to tear their prey apart.
The tourist 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 onto Lalay’s head, prompting her to loosen her grip.
A tourist who climbed into a crocodile enclosure in the Philippines to take a selfie was savagely attacked
The visitor thought the beast was a statue but was trapped in its jaws when he got too close to take a picture
The man was trapped in the pen for over thirty minutes before he was taken to hospital where he received more than 50 stitches
Medics wrapped the visitor’s wounded arm and thigh with cloth to stanch the bleeding before rushing him to a hospital where 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 a number of zookeepers present at the Kabug Mangrove Park and Wetlands zoo, but they failed to stop the tourist from breaching the fence.
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 due to how still she was.
The tourist clambered over a chain-link fence and waded through the water before grinning as he produced his smartphone
Gruesome footage shows the tourist wailing in pain as the predator clamps her jaws around his arm
The reptile handler was said to have slammed a piece of cement onto Lalay’s head, prompting her to loosen her grip
The crocodile latched onto the man’s thigh and flipped over several times, trying to maim him in a brutal death roll
The tourist is understood to have mistaken Lalay for a life-size model due to 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.
