Yorkshire Wildlife Park has been closed for the rest of today and tomorrow after a 'serious incident' at the tiger enclosure. Eyewitnesses described hearing shots fired after a man jumped into the Land of the Tigers area, with video footage captured by onlookers showing the animal mauling him.
As he sits on the grass with his arms out, the man, wearing a black sweater, is bitten from behind and thrown around. The man, visibly distressed, then points a finger at the tiger and firmly shouts, 'Stop.' A second clip shows the tiger with its teeth in his arm and with an arm around his waist.
Witnesses describe chaotic scene
Police and an air ambulance descended on the scene as horrified visitors were evacuated. Multiple people recalled seeing the 'agitated' male leaping into the enclosure, where he faced off with one of the big cats. It's claimed that 'five shots' of what some called a 'gas canister' were then fired.
Tia Hanson told Doncaster Free Press: 'It looks as if someone has jumped into the enclosure. People are saying they heard a gunshot, and they say someone either jumped in or fell in.' She had been at the park with a friend when, at around 2pm, the walkway between the tiger enclosure and the exit was closed.
'When you're leaving, you have to walk past the tiger enclosure, and they've put up all sorts of black tarpaulin so you couldn't really see.' She added that there were 'loads of police and ambulance people and a stretcher in the enclosure'. 'It wasn't nice – there were lots of people who looked really upset.'
Park statement and emergency response
Yorkshire Wildlife Park posted a statement on its website: 'We can confirm that a serious incident has occurred today at the tiger enclosure. Our emergency response procedures were immediately activated, and emergency services are currently attending the scene. We are working closely with the authorities to ascertain exactly what happened.'
It added that the safety of visitors, staff, and animals remains the 'highest priority'. 'The park is now closed and will remain closed tomorrow.'
A Yorkshire Ambulance Service spokesperson confirmed that paramedics responded to calls of an incident at 1.33pm. 'We sent a number of resources, including two land ambulances, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and a doctor.'
Yorkshire Wildlife Park is home to two Amur tigers: Tschuna, a 17-stone female, and a male named Altai. Dominic Ford, who visited the park with his four-year-old niece, praised the 'calm' staff who ordered the evacuation.
