An avowed animal lover who leapt over a zoo barrier to pet two adult cougars has said he thought the animals "wanted some love", but said he had made a "bad decision".

"I was thinking I’m an animal lover. The cats were looking like they wanted some love and [I] just jumped over and petted them," a regretful Josh Newell, 35, told the NBC affiliated WCMH news channel.

But he said: "If I had to do it over I definitely would have stayed within the barrier boundaries."

Mr Newell jumped over a barrier at Columbus Zoo in Ohio to stroke the cougars through links in the fence surrounding them.

The zoo has since pressed charges against him, using as evidence a YouTube video of the incident.

The Delaware County sheriff’s office brought the charges.

Tom Stalf, the president of Columbus Zoo, said: "Barriers, like the fence line at the cougar habitat, are in place to keep our guests and animals safe.

"The actions taken in this video were alarming and resulted in our decision to press charges."

A statement from the zoo said it was "fortunate that neither he [Mr Newell] nor the animals were harmed".

Mr Newell said he was expecting a fine when he appears in court this week, but hoped he would not be banned from the zoo.