Boy, 2, falls into US zoo's cheetah enclosure after mum dangles him over railing

A woman was dangling her two-year-old son over a railing at a zoo in the US city of Cleveland when he fell about three metres into a cheetah exhibit.

Officials from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo said the toddler's parents then in jumped in and pulled him to safety, according to WKYC.

The zoo's executive director, Christopher Kuhar, said the two cheetahs did not interact with the boy or his parents during the incident on Saturday afternoon and that several eyewitnesses saw the woman holding the child over the railing.

The boy is said to have hurt his leg in the fall and was taken to hospital.

The zoo plans to make a complaint against the mother that could see her being charged with child endangerment.