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A mother attempted to stop the man who was killed by a tiger from jumping into its zoo enclosure, witnesses have said.
Anthony Hunt and his girlfriend Scarlet Hogan, who were visiting Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday, told that the woman “desperately tried to pull back” the victim as he tried to jump into the compound.
The man overpowered the woman, who was with her two children at the time, and leapt from a bridge into the tiger pen, Mr Hunt told the newspaper.
“The man started praying to the tiger, bowing down to it – the tiger looked a bit confused,” Ms Hogan said. “Up until he got attacked, it was like he was in a trance, not in reality at all.”
“He had arms wide open ready for the tiger to attack him. It was quite bad. We were just stood there, frozen... the last thing we saw was the tiger’s jaw on his neck,” she added.
Did you see what happened? Contact joe.middleton@independent.co.uk
Victim attacked by tiger told animal to 'stop being naughty'
The victim mauled by a tiger after he climbed into the animal’s enclosure reportedly told it to “stop being naughty”.
Eyewitnesses told they told the man to “play dead”, but he didn’t understand what they were saying.
Moments before he jumped into the enclosure another eyewitness saw him “dancing, with his headphones in”.
'We suddenly saw in the camera lens that a guy had entered the enclosure'
Anthony Hunt, who had been at the wildlife park with his girlfriend Scarlet, was taking pictures of the tiger, called Atlai when the incident occurred.
He told : "We noticed the tiger's behaviour change. Its eyes locked on to something in the enclosure. We thought maybe he's getting fed. When Scarlett was taking photos - we suddenly saw in the camera lens that a guy had entered the enclosure".
Mr Hunt added that the tiger then leapt off the landing point and started sniffing the man.
What happened to the tiger?
The tiger involved in the incident is an endangered species and joined the park last year from Norway.
In a statement on Sunday morning, the park confirmed the tiger involved is named Altai, an endangered Amur tiger. Zookeepers also confirmed Altai would not be euthanised following the tragedy, adding the tiger is “safe and well”.
Altai arrived at the park in March 2025, travelling over 1,135 miles from his previous home at the Norwegian Zoo, Dyreparken, according to Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park expressed sympathy
Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Sunday expressed their thoughts and sympathies with the family of the man who sadly lost his life at the zoo this weekend.
“We would like to thank everyone who has expressed their concern following yesterday's tragic incident,” they said in a statement.
“The park will be closed today while the staff team who were deeply affected by events receive specialist support.
“Many, many people have contacted us about Altai, the tiger. We can reassure everyone that he is safe and well and will not be euthanised as a result of this incident.”
Yorkshire Wildlife Park said early on Monday it will remain closed for the whole of the day as investigations continue.
Councillor laments 'sad' situation after man mauled by tiger
Councillor Steve Cox, who represents the Finningley ward covering the wildlife park, told the Press Association: “I really feel for the staff, they’ve got protocols they have to go through.
“It’s really sad, but I’m sure everybody did what they could.”
'Speculation online is obviously upsetting and unneeded'
Doncaster’s deputy civic mayor Councillor Nick Allen, who represents a nearby ward, said: “We don’t know all the circumstances yet and the speculation online is obviously upsetting and unneeded.”
He said he had been “really shocked about the tragic incident”.
Resident criticises reaction to man killed by tiger
A woman who lives near the wildlife park where a man was killed by a tiger has said she was concerned over reports the victim may have had additional needs and that people “seemed to care more about the tiger”.
Angela Seivewright went to lay flowers at the gate of Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which remained closed on Monday after the fatal incident over the weekend.
She said she had previously seen adults with special needs in the park with carers who appeared to be “a bit distracted” and felt “sad” at much of the reaction to the man’s death.
Ms Seivewright said: “I believe that the person who was killed had additional needs.
“And, when I looked at social media over the weekend, when I said I hoped the person was OK, I got really bullied a lot – saying that he deserved to die.”
“I have a special needs child and I think he was doing sign language to the tiger.
“So, it just felt it was really unfair that people were almost wishing him to die as opposed to not wanting anybody to be hurt.
“So it was really upsetting. My daughter goes to school next door and we live around the corner. And I just thought there would be way more flowers here.”
Recap: Visitor recounts hearing gunshots as helicopters circled overhead
Karmelle Pelham, from Worksop, told the BBC she was on a family day out at the park when it was evacuated.
She said they were in a lemur enclosure when they were told to leave, before being ushered “further and further into the park”.
They heard what sounded like several gunshots before seeing helicopters circling overhead.
“There was big black tarpaulin over the tiger enclosure,” she recounted, adding that staff handled the incident well.
“They did a great job of getting us out without panicking anyone.”