The young man who jumped the fence of a zoo enclosure before he was mauled to death has been identified.
William Chapman entered the Siberian tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in northern England just after 1.30pm local time on Saturday before he was mauled to death, according to South Yorkshire Police.
Chapman, aged in his early 20s, recorded shocking footage from inside the enclosure of the 190kg cat Altai as it sat perched atop a wooden throne staring menacingly at the young man.
Locals reported seeing the man pace around the zoo with headphones on before he leaped into the enclosure in front of distraught families.
One witness told the Daily Mail the man appeared agitated as he “psyched himself up” and performed a “dance” in the spectator area before he scaled the fence and jumped in.
The Doncaster park was evacuated shortly after and remains closed amid the ongoing investigation.
A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson confirmed that Chapman’s family had been made aware of his death and confirmed he visited the park alone on Saturday.
Despite his clear intent on entering the enclosure, witness reports revealed that a nearby mother “desperately tried to pull back” Chapman before he jumped into the enclosure.
“He overpowered her and jumped off, she seemed really frightened,” Anthony Hutt told the Telegraph.
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“We spoke to her after and she was like, ‘I tried to pull him back’ but I guess she didn’t want to risk her own life as well.”
As the horror unfolded rangers fired two shots from a shotgun to scare the cat which retreated to its pen, before authorities rushed to the zoo.
Despite paramedics’ best efforts Chapman was pronounced dead at the wildlife park.
Altai the tiger was unharmed during the incident and park authorities said it was “safe and well”, and confirmed it would not be euthantised, according to New York Post.