Circus performer's head bitten by crocodile during show leaving him with 'serious injuries'

Crocodile bites a performer’s head during a show leaving him with 'serious injuries'

A zookeeper who placed his head inside a crocodile's mouth in a stunt saw it backfire when the reptile clamped its jaws down hard on his head.

The crocodile snapped its jaws shut on the zookeeper's head before violently whirling him from side to side.

A tourist filmed the stunt as it backfired last Sunday at a free crocodile show on the island of Koh Samui, Thailand.

In the horrifying video, the zookeeper kneels before the reptile and teases it with wooden sticks inside its open jaw.

The animal remains eerily still for the routine, in which the keeper waves the sticks around before tracing them inside the crocodile's huge mouth.

The man then places his head inside the predator's mouth, holding it there for 10 seconds.

The audience was left horrified when the animal suddenly snapped its jaw down and thrashed the man from side to side.

Shrieks of pain can be heard from the zookeeper, who was left reeling from his injuries when the crocodile finally released its grip and slid back into the water.

The man was said to have been "showing off" previous wounds, including a missing finger, to the crowd of six before the performance.