A young man has lost his life this Saturday at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, in the north of England, after being attacked by a tiger after accessing the enclosure where the animal was located.
The South Yorkshire Police have confirmed the death and detailed that they received the alert at 1:35 PM. The man died inside the area where the beast was, and the officers are already providing support to his family, according to the British public broadcaster BBC.
"We are deeply saddened by today's tragic incident. Our hearts are with the family and loved ones of the person who has lost their life," a spokesperson for the zoo has stated.
The park is collaborating with the Police and the competent authorities and has requested respect for the privacy of those affected "at this very difficult time." The enclosure has been evacuated and will remain closed tomorrow, the management has added.
The security forces have specified that the tiger has not suffered any harm and that it did not leave its enclosure at any time, so there was no risk to the other visitors. Additionally, the Police have indicated that they are "aware of the existence of videos circulating" on the internet and have asked "that these images not be shared."
The Yorkshire Wildlife Park opened its doors in 2009 and the area known as Tiger Land has been operating since 2011. It is a space of about 8,000 square meters that houses Siberian tigers, a subspecies of which only about 500 individuals remain in the wild.