Boy, 2, has arm bitten off by tiger at zoo

A tiger has bitten off a two-year-old boy's arm after the toddler reached inside the animal's cage at a zoo in China.

The boy poked his arm inside the enclosure of a white Bengal tiger through a ventilation device.

According to the Mirror, he was trying to attract the tiger's attention during his visit to the Ya'an Bifeng Gorge animal park in Sichuan province.

But the animal bit down on the boy's arm, tearing away a huge chunk of muscle.

The Shanghaiist reports that the child was immediately rushed to the People's Hospital in Yan'an for emergency treatment, before being transferred to another hospital for surgery.

A surgeon told the paper that the the entire arm from below the elbow had to be amputated.

The boy had been visiting the zoo with three adult family members, who are said to be distraught over the incident.

Back in August 2014, an 11-year-old boy had his arm amputated after it was nearly torn off by a tiger at a zoo in Brazil.

He got into an area just outside the tiger's cage at Cascavel Zoo, in the state of Parana, and was attacked when he tried pet the animal through the bars, reports Sky News.