Tour guide puts terrified vacationers at major risk by grabbing enormous crocodile by vulnerable body part

Tourists visiting Cancun were in for a shock when their tour guide, who was leading them down a river, grabbed a crocodile's tail.

The reptile was approaching the boat much to the delight of a woman aboard the vessel in the Lagartos River in Yucantán, Mexico, when the guide suddenly reached down into the murky water.

The careless guide kept his hand in the water to motion the crocodile to get closer to the group, tempting the creature nearer to him.

The beast got near the boat apparently looking to be fed when it turned and began to drift away.

A tour guide was seen in a viral video reaching provoking a crocodile moments before he grabbed it by the tail in the Lagartos River in Yucatán, Mexico

A crocodile violently splashed its tail in the Lagartos Rio after a tour guide pulled it despite being warned by a tourist on the boat 

The woman, who seemingly filmed the ordeal, warned the tour guide, 'Don't go bothering him,' when he dismissed her advice and grabbed the crocodile's tail and lifted it.

'Leave him, leave him, so that he doesn't jump,' the woman insisted when the crocodile she nicknamed 'Pachito' violently splashed its tail.

The crocodile could be seen leaving the area as the woman pleaded with the tour guide to move on while a man in the background quipped, 'Don't be scared!'

The tour guide didn't heed the woman's suggestion and remained at the spot until the crocodile appeared once again. It swam toward the boat while keeping its distance until it eventually turned away.

Luis Díaz, director and founder of the Yucatán Amphibians and Reptiles Conservation, warned of the risks and dangers that exist when tour guides employ tactics like the one seen in the video.

The crocodile is of the Morelet's species and is not considered a threat to human beings, according to Luis Díaz, director and founder of the Yucatán Amphibians and Reptiles Conservation in Yucatán, Mexico. He did warn that humans can be prayed on if they continue to feed the reptile or try any tactics to draw their attention to get closer

The crocodile swam away from the the boat at its tour guide reached into the water and grabbed its tail

'They attract crocodiles by constantly feeding them raw fish, crabs or other things, generating training, Díaz told El Heraldo de México. 'They feed them and call them by putting their hand in the water, which causes the crocodiles to associate boats and people with food, which is why they get too close to the boats.'

Díaz indicated that the provoked crocodile, which is of the Morelet's species and native to Yucatán's waters, is not the aggressive type and wouldn't directly attack humans.

The possibility exists, however, that they can prey on humans if they continue to feed them food.

'If a tourist comes and enters the water, these animals already associate humans with food and will go directly to them, and when they do not find that reward, they can bite,' Díaz said.