VIDEO: Horrific moment boy, 11, had his hand torn off by a tiger at a zoo after his father let him climb over safety barrier

A boy’s hand was ripped off by a tiger after he climbed into a restricted area and stroked the animal through its cage.

Witnesses say the 11-year-old cried ‘I’m going to die, I can’t feel my arm’ after he was mauled while reportedly trying to pass meat through the bars.

The victim’s three-year-old brother is believed to have witnessed the attack at the zoo in Cascavel, Brazil.

Video uploaded to LiveLeak shows the victim being lifted back over the security barrier which his father had allowed him to clamber over despite warning signs.

Music teacher Ricardo Espindola, who helped the boy’s father while they waited for the ambulance, said: ‘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.’

The boy was treated by paramedics at the scene before being taken to hospital, where it is understood doctors partially amputated his arm.

According to zookeepers, the tiger, called Hu, is ‘one of the sweetest’ at the zoo.