Guwahati, Feb. 7: Visitors to the Assam State Zoo were today spared some gory scenes when a youth who had jumped into the bear enclosure was rescued with only a scratched thigh.

Azahar Ali, 23, had a face-off with an adult Himalayan black bear — known to be one of the fiercest predators in the wild — but he was luckier than Jayprakash Bezbaruah, who died after a mauling by Royal Bengal tigers Govardana and Divya when he went too close on December 19.

Zookeepers saved Azahar, a resident of Chandmari Railway Basti and presumed to be mentally unstable, after being alerted by other visitors. Assistant conservator of forests M.D. Roy said zoo staff used sticks to chase away the bear before pulling the youth to safety.

Azahar had been flirting with danger ever since he entered the zoo around 4pm. Witnesses said he first tried to feed grass to an elephant but was stopped by a zookeeper. He next approached the bear enclosure — more of a pit — and jumped into it from the wall. Two of the bears were in their cubicles and another was outside, basking in the last rays of the winter sun.

“The bear did not attack him immediately. It appeared to size up the man before lunging at him and scratching his (left) thigh. Fortunately for him, the zookeepers acted promptly,” one of the witnesses, Nanda Sharma, said.

Zoo staff took the dazed youth to the hospital within the complex for first aid before sending him to Guwahati Medical College and Hospital.

“The man seems to be mentally unsound,” an official said.

Lying in his hospital bed, Azahar appeared unfazed. “I just wanted to see the bear from close range,” he said.