Man jumps into lion enclosure at Thiruvananthapuram Zoo, dragged to safety by staff - WATCH

He was reported to be missing by his family in Palakkad.

The man was hurriedly dragged away by zoo staff. (Screen grab from Twitter/@ANI)

A man jumped into the lion enclosure at the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo on Wednesday, and moved towards the lions' cage on all fours before he was dragged out by zoo staff.

A video clip of the incident was shared widely on social media. It shows Murugan, who reports say is a resident of Palakkad, on all fours on the wrong side of the fence at the lion enclosure.

Other zoo visitors who are shooting the bizarre incident on their mobile phones can be hears speaking to each other in disbelief.

#WATCH: Man enters Lion enclosure at Thiruvananthapuram Zoo. Later stopped & removed by zoo officials. pic.twitter.com/CU7AxijWBs

— ANI (@ANI) February 21, 2018

Murugan can be seen crawling just out of sight before a member of the zoo staff catches up with him. As he is being dragged away by one staff member, at least four others in uniform can be seen catching hold of him and dragging him away.

It is unclear from the video if the lions were free within the enclosure or they had been caged in their space.

Reports say Murugan was reported missing by his family, who had recently put out advertisements in local newspapers.

In 2014, a young man named Maqsood climbed into the enclosure of a white tiger at the Delhi zoo. He was killed by the tiger. Reports suggested that he was mentally unstable.