Footage has emerged of the man who died after being attacked by a tiger at a zoo approaching the animal when he climbed into its enclosure.
The man, who has not been named, died after entering the tiger pen at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday afternoon.
A video, filmed in the pen itself, shows the camera holder slowly approaching a wooden platform on which one of the tigers is resting.
In the background, the man can be heard breathing heavily as shocked onlookers cry out ‘oh my god.’
Moments earlier the man, who was alone and dancing to music, had asked a parkgoer to take a picture of him with the 200kg male Siberian tiger, Altai, in the background.
He then began climbing into the enclosure as a woman desperately tried to hold him back, before dropping 12ft to the floor.
When the tiger attacked, the man screamed ‘stop’ several times and appeared to make a gesture for ‘bad’ in Makaton – a sign language system generally used by individuals who struggle to communicate.
It comes as a witness who took the final photograph of a man who then entered a tiger enclosure at a zoo and was mauled to death fought back tears as she pleaded with ‘not very nice’ trolls to think before they post.
In a tearful video on social media last night, Del Taylor appealed to people joking about the incident online to ‘think about why maybe he’d do something like this’.
Speaking on the incident, an emotional Ms Taylor said it was ‘upsetting’ to know she had taken the last photograph of him, and hit out at ‘not very nice’ and ‘presumptuous’ comments online.
‘I’ve seen a lot of speculation online about this person, this man, and a lot of it is not very nice, very presumptuous,’ she said in a video posted on TikTok.
A video, purporting to be filmed in the pen itself, shows the camera holder slowly approaching a wooden platform on which one of the tigers is resting
A man died after climbing into the tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday (Pictured: Altai, one of the two
An air ambulance and police van are seen at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday afternoon
In a tearful video on social media last night, Del Taylor appealed to people joking about the incident online to ‘think about why maybe he’d do something like this’
‘I just wish people would take a moment to think about why maybe he’d do something like this.
‘Maybe it was a lack of danger, awareness of danger. I just feel if somebody had seen this man like myself and a few other people had that day, and you’d seen him dancing his way up and down the bridge with his AirPods in.
‘He was so happy. And then he’s come and place himself next to us and he’s passed me his phone, and he’s asked me for his photo, and if you’d have seen him, without saying too much, you would understand why I’m saying what I’m saying.’
She continued: ‘It’s so upsetting to think that apart from that awful viral video of him being attacked by the tiger online that the last photo of that man probably alive is the one that I’ve taken on his phone for him.
‘But, I’m just asking people to keep a broader mind on what’s happened.’
Ms Taylor said she was speaking out after her name appeared ‘all over’ social media, after witnesses described the minutes before the fatal attack. The video was later deleted.
Those at the scene described the man as having been dancing up and down a walkway above the enclosure before asking Ms Taylor for the picture.
After the man was attacked, he screamed ‘stop’ several times and told the tiger to ‘stop being naughty’. Onlookers said he appeared ‘not attached to reality’.
The scene at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday after a tiger mauled a man who entered its enclosure
Visitors were evacuated by staff before the park was closed for the remainder of the day after the attack
Distressing footage of the attack was uploaded to social media and showed the tiger pawing at and toying with the man. Parkgoers said they then saw it jump onto the man’s neck.
Parkgoers were rapidly evacuated and emergency services, including an air ambulance, rushed to the scene, but the man was confirmed to have died.
Zookeepers were said to have done ‘everything they could’ to drive Altai off, firing five loud acoustic gun blasts in attempts to scare him.
Two ambulances and a helicopter rushed to the park at 1.35pm, with a ‘black screen’ erected around the enclosure as lifesaving treatment was attempted.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which remains closed, confirmed that Altai will not be euthanised in the wake of the incident.
A video clip appeared to show the man moments before he entered the enclosure asking fellow parkgoers to take a picture of him with the animal.
He says: ‘Excuse me, can you grab a shot of myself with the tiger?’ while Altai lies in the background under a shaded tree, playing with a fallen branch.
A woman, believed to be Ms Taylor, agrees and takes a photo, before he asks three times for ‘one more’ picture and then says: ‘Thank you, lady.’
An animal ranger at the zoo, Charlotte Pywell, said: ‘I was not there. I don’t know who the guy was or what made him jump.
‘It was not the tiger’s fault at all. It was just something else to play with. The keepers are all distraught. It was not a very nice day.’
In a statement, the park said: ‘Many, many people have contacted us about Altai, the tiger.
‘We can reassure everyone that he is safe and well and will not be euthanised as a result of this incident.
‘We would like to thank everyone who has expressed their concern following yesterday’s tragic incident.’
The licensing authority for Yorkshire Wildlife Park, City of Doncaster Council, has now launched a health and safety investigation into the man’s death.
Dan Swaine, executive director of place at City of Doncaster Council, said: ‘As the relevant licensing authority for the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, I can confirm that, in line with our statutory duties, the council has launched a health and safety investigation.
‘We are also working with multiple agencies, including the police and health agencies, and are supporting the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in response to the incident.
‘At this time, we won’t be commenting further on the individual or the investigation and we ask that the privacy of those involved is respected at this difficult time.’
Yorkshire Wildlife Park opened in 2009, with the Land of the Tigers attraction opening in 2011.
The attraction is a purpose-built, two-acre reserve for Amur tigers, an endangered subspecies with around 500 left in the wild.
Photos of the enclosure on the park’s website show a high walkway for visitors and fencing above the section where the tigers can roam.
