Pop star Shakira was left shaken after she was attacked by an angry sea lion over the weekend.
The shocking incident happened on Sunday as the singer holidayed in Cape Town, South Africa after she climbed down onto some rocks to take a photograph of the creature on her mobile phone.
On her Facebook page, Shakira wrote: "This afternoon I happened to see some sea lions and seals. I thought to myself how cute they were so I decided to get a bit closer than all of the other tourists and went down to a rock trying to pet them doing a baby talk while taking pictures.
"Suddenly, one of them jumped out of the water so fast and impetuously that it got about one foot away from me, looked me in the eye, roared in fury and tried to bite me."
Luckily, her brother "Super Tony" was on hand to rescue her from the angry sea lion as he jumped down to the rocks to save her.
She wrote: "Everyone there screamed, including me. I was paralysed by fear and couldn't move, I just kept eye contact with it while my brother 'Super Tony' jumped over me and literally saved my life, taking me away from the beast."
The Colombian star posted a picture of her injuries online which showed painful scrapes to her hand.
She added: "We both got our hands and legs scratched by the rocks while trying to protect ourselves."
However, Shakira quickly put the frightening incident behind her and went off to see some friendlier penguins: "It probably thought I was teasing it with food and then taking it away from it.
"Wow! It's funny that only half an hour before I was complaining to my guide Andrew that I never get to see wild animals up close on adventurous trips. Oh well, I can't say that anymore!! Now I'm off to see some penguins! I hope they are a bit more friendly!"
She later tweeted: "Today with the penguins! Definitely friendlier!!"
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