A man was mauled to death by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster after entering the enclosure, prompting an evacuation and closure of the park. Zookeepers fired gunshots into the air to scare the animal away, which was left uninjured.
Man entered tiger enclosure and was attacked
Disturbing footage posted online appeared to show the victim standing inside the enclosure while pointing at a tiger. He was seen being bitten and shoved around by the big cat while crying out “no, no” and “back”, as visitors desperately shouted from a viewing gantry in a bid to distract the animal.
One male onlooker was heard exclaiming “Jesus Christ”, while a woman was heard saying: “I tried to stop him”. She was also heard telling a fellow witness: “Don't look,” as the horror continued.
Keepers fired shots to scare the tiger
Hero keepers later managed to scare the animal away by firing several gunshots into the air, causing it to flee to a nearby hide. It was left uninjured.
Visitor Tia Hanson said: “It looks as if someone has jumped into the enclosure. There were loads of police and ambulance people and a stretcher in the enclosure as well. It wasn’t nice - there were lots of people who looked really upset. They put up all sort of black tarpaulin so you couldn’t really see.”
Police and ambulance workers rushed to the scene before a “black screen” was later erected around the enclosure. An insider said: “Shots were fired into the air to make a noise and distract the tiger. The animal wasn't shot and is absolutely fine and not injured. The barriers are huge. You would have to really want to get inside the enclosure to be able to do it. From start to end the incident was over within minutes. The keepers did everything they could. It's horrific.”
Park evacuated and closed after incident
Karmelle Pelham, 39, from Worksop, was on a family day out when staff told them the park was being evacuated. She said: “We were in a lemur enclosure and somebody asked us to start leaving. Then, all of a sudden, we were being ushered further and further into the park.” She said she had then heard several gunshots before a helicopter began circling. She said: “That's when we started thinking, 'Oh, something's happened'.”
A woman who was visiting the park with her husband and two children, aged six and three, described seeing blood where the tiger had dragged the man as visitors shouted in a bid to distract the animal. Midwife Amy Wright, 36, told The Sun: “You could see the blood where the tiger had dragged the man. Someone who saw it said it had him by the neck. There was a lot of blood. People were shouting to try and distract it.”
Doncaster Mayor Ros Jones said in a statement she was “deeply saddened to hear of the tragic incident that has taken place today at Yorkshire Wildlife Park”. She added: “My thoughts and prayers are with all those involved at this immensely difficult time.”
Yorkshire Wildlife Park was opened in April 2009. In 2011, its Land of the Tigers’ attraction opened allowing visitors to view the cats from a 300 meter-long raised walkway above the enclosure. The park has two Amur tigers, a 17-stone female called Tschuna and a male called Altai, who only arrived in March last year.
A statement on the park's website said: “We can confirm a serious incident has occurred at the tiger enclosure. Our emergency response procedures were immediately activated. We are working closely with the authorities to ascertain exactly what happened. The safety and wellbeing of our visitors, staff and animals remain our highest priority. The park is now closed and will remain closed tomorrow.”
A South Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “At 1.35pm today (Saturday 10 October) we received reports of a man entering a tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. The tiger subsequently attacked the man, resulting in serious injury. Emergency services attended and sadly, despite the best efforts of medical personnel, the man was pronounced dead at the scene. The man's family is aware and is being supported by specialist officers. Our thoughts are with them at this distressing time. Regarding rumours surrounding the condition of the tiger, the animal was uninjured and remained in the enclosure following the incident and there is no wider risk to the public. Following the incident, Yorkshire Wildlife Park was evacuated and officers remain on scene carrying out enquiries.”
A Yorkshire Air Ambulance spokesperson said: “We can confirm that Yorkshire Air Ambulance was dispatched to an incident at Yorkshire Wildlife Park today, alongside other ambulance resources.”
The horror comes after a three-year-old boy was seriously injured after being thrown into a crocodile enclosure back in July. The boy was visiting Johnsons of Old Hurst, near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, on 18 June when he ended up in the crocodile enclosure before being attacked. A 30-year-old man from Norfolk, understood to have learning difficulties, was later arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following the incident and was later bailed as police said he was “assessed as not being fit for interview”.
