A man has died after climbing into a tiger enclosure and suffering serious injuries at a zoo in Yorkshire, South Yorkshire police said.
Emergency services raced to Yorkshire Wildlife Park, near Doncaster, just after 1.30pm on Saturday to find a man had been mauled after entering the compound.
“Emergency services attended and sadly, despite the best efforts of medical personnel, the man was pronounced dead at the scene,” police said, adding that the tiger was unharmed.
“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,” they said.
The park has been evacuated and was to stay shut for the remainder of the weekend, the zoo said.
Did you see what happened? Contact james.reynolds@independent.co.uk
Man dies after entering enclosure; tiger unharmed
A man has died after suffering serious injuries in a tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, South Yorkshire Police said.
A police statement said: “At 1.35pm today (Saturday October 10) 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 inquiries. We are aware of videos circulating online and we would encourage people not to share this footage.”
Visitor recounts hearing gunshots as helicopters circled overhead
Karmelle Pelham, from Worksop, tells the BBC she was on a family day out at the park when it was evacuated.
She says they were in a lemur enclosure when they were told to leave, before being ushered “further and further into the park”.
Pelham says 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.”
The latest: Serious incident confirmed, status of tiger unclear
Yorkshire Wildlife Park confirms a serious incident occurred at its park on Saturday.
But it remains unclear what happened to the tiger.
But police and the park itself are yet to comment.
What do we know so far?
Police say they received reports that a man entered the tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday lunchtime.
The man was attacked and seriously injured, but apparently survived. The status of the tiger was unclear. Some local outlets cited unconfirmed witness testimonies of shots being fired.
The man has not yet been identified and police were still working to contact his family this afternoon.
The zoo, which is home to at least two tigers, will remain shut for the rest of the weekend.
Wildlife park has two Amur tigers in captivity
These include a 17-stone tigress called Tschuna, who arrived in 2013, and a male called Altai, who arrived last year.
They live in the zoo’s Land of the Tiger enclosure, a two acre complex of woodlands, grasslands and a pool.
Victim 'climbed into enclosure' and sustained serious injuries, police say
South Yorkshire Police confirm in a statement that a man was attacked and seriously injured after reportedly entering a tiger enclosure at the park.
They say they responded at 1.35pm on Saturday, and that officers remain on the scene, carrying out enquiries.
Police are working to make contact with the man’s family, they say.
“The tiger remained in the enclosure following the incident and there is no wider risk to the public,” the say.
“We are aware of videos circulating online and we would encourage people not to share this distressing footage.”
In full: Zoo confirms serious incident at tiger enclosure
A spokesperson for the Yorkshire Wildlife Park confirms to The Independent that a serious incident occurred today at the tiger enclosure.
“Our emergency response procedures were immediately activated, and emergency services are currently attending the scene,” they say.
“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.”
Air ambulances attended incident at tiger enclosure
Yorkshire Ambulance Service spokesperson confirmed they attended the scene after being called at 1.33pm on Saturday afternoon to an incident at the park.
Two land ambulances, Yorkshire Air Ambulance and a doctor attended the scene, the emergency service has said.