By Tim Binnall
A man in the Philippines was nearly killed when he posed for a selfie alongside what he thought was a crocodile statue, but it turned out that the creature was real and it promptly attacked him! The bizarre incident reportedly occurred earlier this month as Nehemias Chipada was celebrating his 68th birthday at the Amaya View amusement park in the city of Cagayan de Oro. Alas, the merriment of the afternoon was shattered when the man noticed what he believed to be a remarkably realistic crocodile prop sitting in a small pool of water below a pathway on which he stood. No doubt hoping to commemorate his birthday with an amusing memory from the trip, Chipada clambered down to the creature for what wound up being an ill-advised snapshot.
Standing alongside the suspected statue, the man raised his arm for a selfie when the 'artwork' suddenly came to life and, much to the horror of onlookers watching the scene unfold, bit down upon Chipada's arm. The very real 12-foot-long crocodile then tried to drag him beneath the water, but the stunned tourist was able to extract himself from the animal's menacing maw and managed to scramble out of the pool to safety. Chipada was left with a bloody arm requiring medical attention and is currently recovering from the shocking birthday party gone wildly awry. While the man's family angrily blamed the theme park for the crocodile confusion, Amaya View fired back by noting that the area of the attack features several signs warning visitors about the dangerous animals.