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Video: Terrifying moments as dad drops baby in zoo's elephant enclosure

Dubai - The man said that he wanted to take a picture with the African bull elephant.

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A father has been arrested on suspicion of child endangerment after he carried his 2-year-old daughter into the elephant habitat at the San Diego Zoo to take a photograph with the animals.

According to ABC News, zoo spokesman Andrew James said Jose Manuel Navarette, 25, bypassed multiple barriers and "purposely and illegally trespassed" into the habitat with the child because he wanted to take a picture with the elephant.

Shocking footage shows the man dropping his 2-year-old daughter as he flees from the charging African bull elephant after he took the baby into the elephant enclosure at the zoo.

"We told him to get out and he turned around and he saw it thankfully just in time," said eyewitness Jake Ortale.

"He runs, throws his baby through the gate and it's seconds from hitting him. He jumps through the gate, falls on the ground and then it roared."

"The baby starts crying and people were just mad at this guy," he said.

Thankfully neither the man, his daughter nor the elephant was harmed. The child went home with her mother after the incident.

San Diego County jail records show Jose Manuel Navarrete was being held on $100,000 bail for investigation of child endangerment and is set to be arraigned on March 30.

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