Man hops over zoo fence to skip paying ticket, gets mauled to death by tiger

A tiger in captivity was shot down by zoo officials in China to save a man who went inside the animal’s enclosure. File photo

Another human casualty was recorded inside a zoo, in the city of Ningbo in eastern China, as a man was reportedly mauled to death by a tiger inside its enclosure.

According to BBC, the unidentified victim, known only as ‘Mr. Zhang’, hopped over the Youngor Zoo’s 10-feet tall wall to avoid purchasing a ticket and unfortunately landed on the massive feline’s pen.

Immediately after dropping down into the enclosure, Mr. Zhang was attacked by one of the tigers, while his associate—a man listed as Mr. Li—witnessed the whole ordeal and did not follow.

Special forces unit from the local police were forced to shoot the tiger down, in an effort to save the man’s life.

Mr. Zhang, however, succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead upon arriving at the hospital.

The terrifying attack, which occurred over the weekend, took place in front of several park visitors and onlookers, with some posting video clips and pictures of the mauling online.

A helpless man wearing a blue parka and black trousers can be seen lying on the ground, while a massive tiger appears to have its jaws locked around his neck and head. Two other tigers were present as well and were seen circling around the victim.

Several zoo officials also used firecrackers to scare off the beasts, but failed to do so as only two ran off, while the other one continued to maul the victim.

Visitors were evacuated from the zoo after the attack, while the zoo remained closed thereafter for the rest of the week, the report said.

After the gory scene, officials found out that Mr. Zhang, along with his wife and two children, visited the park together with Mr. Li on Sunday.

The woman and children bought tickets and entered the park, while the stingy men decided to scale the outer walls in an effort to get free accommodation.

Furthermore, zoo officials added that there were several prominent warning signs posted around the park, which reminds zoo-goers to never scale the iron fencing on top of the walls—to ensure the safety of both humans and animals.

The incident has since attracted widespread attention on Chinese social media Weibo, with most users condemning the man and mourning the death of the magnificent beast.

“This visitor’s death by mauling really does not deserve any sympathy. Tigers are the carnivorous kings of the jungle and hunting for food is their instinct, who can you blame if you jump in and get attacked?” one user wrote.

A similar incident occurred in another zoo just last July, when a tiger mauled a woman and her elderly mother inside a Beijing drive-through wildlife park.

A sad occurrence which gained international notoreity also happened in a Cincinnati zoo in May, where a gorilla named Harambe was fatally shot down by zookeepers in order to save a young boy who accidentally fell into the enclosure. Khristian Ibarrola

RELATED STORY:

US zoo kills gorilla after boy falls into enclosure