A wildlife park owner was savagely mauled by a lion in front of screaming onlookers after he entered the animal's enclosure.

A wildlife park owner was savagely mauled by a lion in front of screaming onlookers after he entered the animal's enclosure.

Mike Hodge, a 67-year-old British expat, was rushed to hospital with neck and jaw injuries after the shocking attack caught on film in South Africa.

Pictures shows Hodge smiling in his hospital bed despite his injuries, and a friend has told the Sun he is recovering from the dramatic ordeal.

The video of the attack, filmed at the Marakele Predator Park near Thabazimbi in South Africa, shows Hodge entering the lion's enclosure.

"Mike and one of his rangers were a little concerned about a smell in a compound that was upsetting one of the lions and had gone in through the gate to see what was causing it," the friend told the Sun.

"He is no fool around lions and knows how to interact with them but clearly something went wrong."

Witnesses watched as the animal pursued him towards the metal door to the pen and screamed as the beast dragged him back. The hulking animal clawed at the man, who went limp in its grip.

The lion dragged the man farther into the enclosure, into bushes as onlookers screamed for help.

Then, suddenly, a loud bang is heard and the lion drops Hodge and runs for cover.

A woman howls at what she has just witnessed and another man is heard shouting "get a rifle just in case".

The big cat is thought to have been put down after the grisly attack.

Hodge and his wife Chrissy set up Marakele Predator Park in 2010 after they emigrated from the UK, according to its website.

They moved to South Africa in 1999 and started a lion conservation project in 2003 on a farm 30km from Thabazimbi.

A few years later they moved to the town in the Limpopo province and founded the park.

The site has more than a dozen big cats, including white lions, cheetahs and two Bengal tigers.

Guests can stay in safari tents and "will be able to hear the lions roar, hyenas laugh, and jackals calling" at night.

Tents have double or single beds, and each has an en-suite bathroom with a shower, the website reads.

The video sparked debate on social media, with some criticising the man for entering the enclosure.

One viewer questioned why he had ventured so close to the big cat.

"Why was he inside the enclosure? That's insane!" Claire Allen wrote.

Another commented on how the lion was just acting according to its instinct.

Debbie Wagner said: "So sad that the lion is only doing what comes naturally to him.

"Set him free, where he deserves to be."