A lion at South Africa's East London zoo mauled a man to death after he jumped into the animal's enclosure, a government official said.

Security camera footage showed the man paying the entrance fee and entering the zoo at around 9 a.m., local government spokeswoman Thandy Matebese told the Daily Dispatch newspaper.

"We suspect that he used the corner of the security wall and the fence of the lion's enclosure to climb up and jumped over the fence," Matebese said.

"His corpse was discovered around 10am when it was time to feed the lions."

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