A deranged man stripped naked and plunged into a tank of crocodile-like caimans at Bronx Zoo yesterday – and lived to tell the tale.
Stunned cops and zookeepers rushed to the scene, pulling him free before the two sharp-toothed reptiles could get to work.
“He ran through the water and tried to grab them. At one point he was actually straddling them,” said bemused Sgt. James Ricker, who watched as the unidentified man leaped fearlessly into the murky waters.
“I can’t believe he got that close without getting bit.”
Ricker said the man yelled out to cops from inside the enclosure – “but we had no idea what he was saying. He ended up just kneeling in the water in a fetal position. He appeared to be an emotionally distressed person.”
The man scaled the tank’s 5-foot glass safety barrier after a guard spotted him walking nude around the World of Darkness nocturnal-animal exhibit about 1:30 p.m.
“I guess it was a rainy day and he didn’t have much to do … obviously he has a few issues,” a zoo worker said.
Quick-thinking reptile staff prevented an attack by inserting a large wooden divider between the intruder and the startled beasts.
“The caimans weren’t particularly aggressive, they are fat and happy,” said zookeeper John Behler.
“It was lucky for the fella that it wasn’t breeding season. He could have had nasty lacerations from their many, many teeth. Fortunately, it ended well for both the caimans and their visitor.”
He said the 5-foot-long caimans are not known as man-eaters and feed mainly on frogs, birds and rodents.
Police have yet to charge the man, who is undergoing psychiatric evaluation at Jacobi Medical Center in The Bronx.
Earlier this month, a Taiwanese man was mauled after jumping into a lion enclosure at his local zoo shouting “Jesus will save you.”
The big cat didn’t take kindly to his visitor, ripping into his arms and legs before rescuers fought it off with a fire hose.
In October 2003, a Harlem man was arrested after a caiman and tiger were discovered living in his high-rise apartment.