Lion bites off zoo employee's finger in front of horrified visitors (VIDEO)

They’re called the king of the jungle for a reason.

A lion at Jamaica Zoo taught an employee a terrifying lesson, biting off his finger in a video that has gone viral.

According to the Jamaica Observer, the incident occurred on Saturday in front of at least 15 horrified onlookers.

You might also like:

One of the visitors said that as the zoo tour was coming to an end, their guide attempted to pet a lion in captivity in the hopes of impressing guests.

“When it happened, I thought it was a joke. I didn’t think it was serious. I didn’t realize the seriousness of it, because it’s their job to put on a show,” the visitor told the Jamaica Observer.

The video, posted by the Jamaica Observer on YouTube, shows the zoo employee sticking his hand through the wired fence as the lion roars at him, baring its teeth.

The employee then claps and appears to say “come!” further antagonizing the lion. That’s when the lion chomps on the employee’s finger.

The employee struggles to free himself, playing tug of war with the lion, but is eventually able to get his hand back, falling to the ground.

“Obviously, when he fell on the ground everybody realized that it was serious. Everybody started to panic,” said the visitor. “The entire skin and about the first joint of his finger was gone.”

Jamaica Zoo responded to the incident, saying it will fully cooperate with regulatory authorities.

According to the zoo, the employee involved is now recovering from “relatively minor injuries.”

The video is blurred, but watch at your own discretion.