A TIGER-MAULING death at a Chinese zoo is under investigation by local authorities who say the victim climbed a fence into the tiger’s enclosure.
The attack occurred Saturday at a resort on Dongqian Lake in eastern China’s Zhejiang province. A local government statement says the victim, identified only by his surname of Zhang, climbed a fence with a friend instead of buying tickets.
Upon entering the enclosure, several tigers encircled Zhang and one reportedly attacked him. A photo shared on Chinese social media appears to show him lying next to the tiger. Zhang died later in a hospital.
State television reported the tiger was shot dead by local police, and three others nearby were dispersed using firecrackers.
According to the Shanghaiist, Zhang was visiting the zoo with his wife, kids, his coworker surnamed Li and Li’s wife.
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Li was quoted as saying that the women and children bought tickets and entered the zoo without incident, but the two men ignored warnings, and chose instead to try scaling the walls of the tiger enclosure to gain free entry.
After climbing an outer wall, Zhang scaled another three-meter-tall wall and landed in the enclosure. Li, however, did not follow Zhang.
Once in the tiger enclosure, a pack of tigers began to surround and attack Zhang. The zoo’s staff used fireworks to scare the big felines away but while the others fled, one tiger was seen unperturbed and continued to drag Zhang away.
***Warning: The footage below contains disturbing scenes, viewer discretion advised.
To stop the relentless attack, authorities were forced to shoot the tiger, killing it instantly before they were able to rescue Zhang in the hour-long operation.
The man was quickly rushed to a nearby hospital but died from his injuries.
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The incident caused outrage among Chinese netizens who took to social media to protest the tiger’s killing.
“A f***ing idiot climbs over two walls into a tiger’s home and the tiger gets shot and killed for doing what is natural. How is that fair? They should have just let him die,” said one netizen, as quoted by Shanghaiist.
The incident is the second in less than a year involving zoo visitors in China entering tiger enclosures.
Last July, a elderly woman who tried to save her daughter who stepped out of her car during a safari-style trip in Beijing’s Badaling was killed after a captive tiger pounced on her.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press
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