William Chapman, a former child actor, has been named as the man killed by a tiger after entering its enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday, October 10. Emergency services were contacted shortly after 1.30pm when Chapman, who police said was visiting the park alone, entered the enclosure. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Former acting career
Chapman appeared in shows on the BBC and ITV. According to the BBC and backed up by IMDB, he appeared in the ITV production May Contain Nuts alongside Shirley Henderson, best known for playing Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films. He also portrayed Edward Jenner as a young boy in the BBC series True Stories.
Footage of the incident
Chapman, who was reportedly in his 20s, apparently filmed the moment he approached the animal, according to footage posted on an Instagram account that has since been deleted. The short clip was filmed inside the tiger's enclosure and the large animal can be seen lying on top of a wooden platform, a few metres in front of the camera. In the audio, the person filming can be heard breathing heavily as distant voices shout "Oh my God" and "seriously".
Videos began circulating online appearing to show Chapman being pawed at and grappled by Altai, the Amur tiger involved in the incident. In another clip, Chapman's voice appears to ask people to take a photo of him with the tiger just minutes before the incident took place.
Park response
The park was evacuated and closed following the incident and will remain closed on Wednesday, October 14, for the fifth day. In a previous statement on social media, the wildlife park said "many, many people" had contacted them about Altai, and it confirmed he is "safe and well" and will not be euthanised. It added that members of park staff were "deeply affected" by the incident and receiving specialist support.
