A 23-year-old Minneapolis man was allegedly scratched by a cougar Thursday at the Como Zoo in St. Paul after apparently climbing a guardrail outside an exhibit.

Zoo security personnel called police around 3:45 p.m. after seeing a man with headphones on the ground yelling at the cougars and pushing on the barrier outside the animals' exhibit, said Matt Reinartz, Como Zoo spokesman.

The man was playing his music so loud that guards had to tap him on the shoulder, he said.

A visitor reported seeing the man standing up on the railing and reaching through the safety steel mesh barriers, Reinartz said. The zoo's two cougars are protected by a guard rail 42 inches high and a 20-foot steel mesh on top, he said. There's another fence of steel mesh that acts as a second barrier, he said.

"A person would have to go to great lengths to penetrate both barriers," he said.

There are also at least 10 signs in the area warning visitors to stay back behind the guardrail, Reinartz said.

When questioned, the man denied climbing on the railing and reaching through the mesh barrier, Reinartz said. He claimed that he had scratched his hand exiting a bus. No zoo staffer saw the man climb the guardrail, Reinartz said.

The man was cited for disturbing zoo animals and released at the scene, according to a police report.