DELAWARE, Ohio – A man who jumped a fence to pet cougars at a U.S. zoo and posted video of it on YouTube says he jokingly called “Here, kitty” and moved closer when the animals seemed to respond.

Joshua Newell, 35, pleaded no contest Wednesday to a misdemeanour criminal trespassing charge and was found guilty. He was sentenced to four days in jail, with two of those suspended, and fined $200 plus other costs.

Newell left court wearing a T-shirt printed with the words “Cougar Love,” a local TV station reported.

His video posted last week shows an outer fence at the Columbus, Ohio, zoo being jumped, then two cougars being petted through another fence as someone says things such as “Kitty, kitty, kitty.”

Newell told the station Tuesday that he had called out “Here, kitty” as a joke and assumed the animals wouldn’t move toward him, but they did.

“I figured if the cat’s going to go out of his way to get some loving, I’m going to go ahead and jump the barrier and show him some love,” Newell said.

He said the encounter lasted several minutes.

Newell said he may have acted like an idiot but also questions the level of access to the cats, saying it was “easy” to approach the inner fence.