Witnesses say man danced and prayed before fatal tiger attack

A young man danced and prayed inside a tiger enclosure before a tiger attacked him, witnesses told The Telegraph, according to mbl.is.

South Yorkshire Police received a report shortly after noon the previous day that a man had entered an enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A young couple visiting the park told The Telegraph that a woman, described as the mother of two children, desperately tried to pull the man back as he attempted to jump from a bridge into the enclosure. He managed to jump in.

Another witness said the tiger appeared to go into hunting mode when it noticed the man, descending from a ledge but not attacking immediately. The man then appeared to dance with his phone held up, possibly filming himself, and began praying to the tiger, the witness said.

“Right up until it attacked him, it was as if he was in a trance, completely out of touch with reality,” one witness told The Telegraph. “He had his arms spread, ready for the tiger to attack him. It was horrific.”

The tiger, named Altai, is an Amur tiger. The zoo said in a statement that it is in good health and will not be put down because of the incident.