A crocodile has attacked a drunk man and tried to drag him into a lagoon after he threw stones at the reptile.
The beast, which was said to have been provoked by the man, grabbed his leg between its jaws and pulled him towards the water.
Video footage of the horrific incident was filmed on the banks of the La Encantada lagoon in the Gaviotas neighbourhood of the city of Villahermosa, south-eastern Mexico.
It shows the man hurling stones at the croc which responded even more aggressively.
The director of the municipal Civil Defence, Jose Arturo Gomez Ascencio, said the man, who was not named in local reports, was inebriated and had "provoked" the reptile.
Gomez Ascencio said: "The person who was apparently attacked was throwing stones at it and was drunk.
"These animals are in the reproductive stage; they have eggs and the animal felt attacked and reacted."
The crocodile, a female, apparently bit the man's leg, causing him to fall to the ground - as seen in the footage - to prevent him from disturbing its nest.
It is not known if the man was injured in the incident, as onlookers interviewed by local media said he left the scene alone on foot.
Later that same afternoon, personnel from the Fire Department went to the scene to secure the crocodile and its eggs.
The Civil Defence took to its social media channels to warn locals: "We make a strong appeal to avoid disturbing them so as not to generate defence attacks."
Last month The Mirror told how a man on a tour of Australia managed to save himself from a deadly crocodile with just his one free hand.
The adventurer, 40, was swimming at Adels Grove in Queensland on Sunday when the freshwater croc emerged and latched onto one of his hands.
The man had accidentally startled the croc when he swam behind a waterfall near Boodjamulla National Park.
But he managed to wrestle himself free despite the beast holding onto one of his hands with his razor sharp teeth.
Aircrew officer Greig Allan, of RACQ Lifeflight Rescue, said the man was lucky to escape with his life.
“He was trying to get himself into a waterfall and didn’t see the croc," he told 9News.
"So when he reached in, the croc was startled and latched onto his arm."
Mr Allan said that the man was left with "significant injuries" after freeing himself from its grip.
“As you can imagine, a two to three metre croc grabbing you by the arm is going to create some pretty significant injuries which is what he had,” Mr Allan said.
A rescue helicopter was called at around 2pm.
“He was in a lot of pain and the puncture wounds from the croc’s teeth were very deep,” Mr Allan said.
