A Chinese elderly man lost two of his fingers after a circus tiger bit them off when he tried to feed it paper money while he was in a drunken stupor.

The harrowing incident happened in Xichuan, Henan Province, where the circus was visiting with other animals such as monkeys in tow.

Man vs. Beast

The horrifying footage shows the man first sticking both of his hands into the cages of the lioness and tiger. An elderly woman can be seen reaching out her hand to try and stop him.

While the lioness took the food from the man like a tamed, domesticated cat, the tiger in the cage next door clamped hard on the man's hand as if it was a piece of delicious meat and refused to let it go.

Circus staff soon came to his rescue, hitting the tiger with iron bars until it let go of his hand. The man fainted and fell to the ground immediately.

The man was left lying on the ground with a maimed hand after the ordeal, leaving a trail of blood from his wound.

The man was treated in the hospital and is now out of danger.

According to Beijing Youth Daily, the man's relative revealed that he had been drinking alcohol before he went to the circus.

You can watch the full video below:

[video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://static.mothership.sg/1/2017/11/tigerbitestupidman.mp4"][/video]

Cover image via Pear Video.