Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Tiger death man sneaked in to zoo to avoid paying £15
Dad savaged after climbing fence
A TOURIST killed by three tigers jumped into their enclosure in an attempt to avoid paying the £15 entry fee to a wildlife park.
Officials said the man – known only as Mr Zhang – was mauled to death in front of his wife and child after trying to sneak into the zoo in China for free.
The dad had paid for the rest of his family to enter the park, but could not afford a ticket for himself. So he climbed three fences, crossed a stream and tried to sneak in through the tigers’ enclosure.
A relative of Mr Zhang’s claimed the wildlife facility was to blame for his death, saying: “It’s the zoo’s fault. The zoo offers the chance to climb the wall.
“If the wall was high enough or if the zoo had adopted effective measures, he wouldn’t have been able to climb it.”
Staff were said to have been feeding the animals when Mr Zhang entered the tigers’ compound. A friend of Mr Zhang’s had joined him as he scaled the fence, but then gave up and turned back. Seconds later, the tigers attacked and killed Mr Zhang.
Horrific footage shows the creatures pouncing on him at Ningbo Younger Zoo, south of Shanghai in Zhejiang province, eastern China. Mr Zhang is seen writhing on the ground in agony as the animals pass him between them.
A witness told the South China Morning Post: “I saw the tiger mauling the person, whose face was covered with blood.
“Every time he sat up, the tiger pushed him down again.”
Zookeepers attempted to scare the tigers away with water cannon and fireworks, but with no success. It took staff an hour to recover Mr Zhang from the enclosure. He was later pronounced dead in hospital.
One of the three tigers that mauled him was shot dead, causing outrage among animal lovers in China, who have blamed the victim and the zoo for the tragedy. Police are investigating the incident.