Chinese man tries to feed banknotes to tiger, loses two fingers

BEIJING: Feeding banknotes to a caged circus tiger proved costly for an elderly man in China as the big cat bit off two of his fingers.

The tiger was part of a circus being staged at Jingziguan in Henan province on Wednesday.

Bai, 65, approached a caged lion and the tiger, trying to feed them banknotes.

A video posted online showed that the lion picked up the money and started chewing, but the tiger bit his right hand and would not let it go.

Circus staff rushed to his rescue, hitting the tiger with iron bars until it let go of his hand.

"He fainted with a bleeding hand. Two fingers were missing," Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted local media reports as saying.

He was rushed to a hospital and is now out of danger.

His middle finger had been entirely bitten off and he lost half of his ring finger, Bai's granddaughter said.

Another relative of Bai said he had been drinking alcohol before he went to the circus.