AFTERMATH

Troubling New Details Surface After Deadly Tiger Attack at Zoo

Several news outlets have pictured the man.

#11

A man killed after climbing into a tiger enclosure in a zoo has been named by the Daily Mail. William Chapman entered Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster, U.K., on Saturday, with police confirming he acted alone and died at the scene. He has not been formally named at the time of writing, but was described as vulnerable. The BBC cited eyewitnesses who said he was in his 20s, wore headphones, and paced around before entering the enclosure. British authorities confirmed that his family had been informed and were being supported by specialist officers. Yorkshire Wildlife Park extended its “thoughts and heartfelt sympathies” for Chapman’s family. Shocking footage that circulated widely on social media appears to show the moments prior to the attack. A tiger appears to toy with the man on the floor. It intermittently backs off as the man gestures toward it, but repeatedly returns to bite and swipe with its paws. “He jumped in and crawled in front of the tiger, where the tiger was perched and just lay there,” Ella Ford, 24, told the BBC. She said that moments later he was “shouting for help,” as people tried to distract the apex predator. “I just know some man was obviously trying to bang on the fence to try and deter the tiger away, but it obviously wasn’t doing anything.”