Tiger saves man from leopard attack0:15
A tiger saves a man from being attacked by a leopard at The Black Jaguar-White Tiger sanctuary in Mexico. Courtesy: Black Jaguar-White Tiger Foundation
The animal conservationist is pictured playing with a pride of lions as the leopard approaches at the top left of the screen. Picture: Black Jaguar White Tiger
DRAMATIC footage has emerged showing a big cat handler narrowly avoiding being savaged by a leopard after a heroic intervention by a tiger.
According to The Sun, the clip shows animal conservationist Eduardo Serio playing with a group of lions at the Black Jaguar White Tiger sanctuary in Mexico.
However, as he pats the tummy of one of the predators, a leopard can be seen in the background stalking handler who has his back turned.
But as the spotted animal, whose name is Dharma, sprints towards Eduardo, a huge tiger leaps through the air and tackles the beast.
The hero tiger, named Aztlan, had been sitting in the shade behind its trusted handler before showing split second reactions.
Aztlan used incredible agility to catch Dharma and pin the leopard to the ground startling Eduardo.
The tiger (top left) shows amazing agility to stop the leopard in mid air. Picture: Black Jaguar White TigerSource:Supplied
The aggressive beast then became submissive as the handler gave the tiger a congratulatory pat and can be heard thanking it in Spanish.
Filmed at the sanctuary in Mexico City, the clip was uploaded to YouTube in October 2015 with the title: “The Kids Playing. Aztlan Saved Me From Dharma’s Attack.”
However, the astonishing footage recently went viral after being posted on popular site Reddit.
Some users have suggested that the leopard was only play fighting and that Eduardo was not actually in danger.
One poster wrote: “Don’t be fooled.The big tiger named Aztlan did not purposefully save some human….he was more likely interested in playing just as much as the leopard.”
Black Jaguar White Tiger has built a huge social media following featuring video clips showing Eduardo’s incredible relationships with rescued big cats.
The organisation’s Instagram page has 5.6 million followers while their Facebook page has nearly 2 million likes.