Staff shot and tranquilized two tigers after a man jumped into their enclosure and for 20 minutes invited them to eat him - with limited success - at Chengdu Zoo on Sunday.

Yang Jinhai, 27, from Ziyang county in Sichuan Province, sustained "16 minor wounds" and received medical treatment after being led away by police, the Chengdu Business Daily reported.

"I asked them to bite me and let them eat my meat," Yang reportedly told the paper, "and so I did not fight back."

Yang has been jobless and suffers from intermittent insanity, Yang's elder brother told the paper.

Yang climbed into the enclosure via a nearby tree, then performed exaggerated movements toward the white Bengal female tigers before daubing red ink on the glass window of their cage.

One tiger dragged Yang along the ground by the back of his neck while another watched from a corner.

Zoo employees deployed a water hose and a chicken to divert the tigers' attention, but finally had to resort to "anesthetic measures" to rescue Yang, who refused to cooperate by escaping out of a staff exit.

"It's really a miracle the visitor survived," said zoo deputy director Chen Hongwei, "and it is a good fortune for Chengdu."

Captive tigers are less aggressive, he explained.