This is the moment a scaredy cat posing for the camera in front of a lion enclosure gets the fright of his life after one of the big cats creeps up on him.

The footage starts with the man pulling a macho pose for the camera while a lioness can be seen skulking inside the enclosure in the background.

The incident took place at a zoo in Huzhou, a city in eastern China’s coastal province of Zhejiang, on Tuesday, 16th August.

The images show the man looking over his shoulder as the big cat wanders around in the background. He then turns around to face the camera and this is when the predator sneaks up on him.

After a few seconds, the man, named only as Mr Li in local media, can be seen turning his head to look around again, with his head coming face to face with the lion, mere inches away.

Luckily some thick glass can be seen between the man and the lion but this did not stop him from jumping to his feet and screaming in fright as his instinct to survive kicked in.