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The young man who was mauled to death by a tiger at a British wildlife park was identified Tuesday — as it emerged he filmed his own footage as he climbed into the big cat’s enclosure.
William Chapman, a “vulnerable” man in his early 20s, came alone to Yorkshire Wildlife Park in northern England on Saturday, according to police.
He then recorded shocking footage from inside the 420-pound predator’s enclosure moments before he was mauled to death, the Sun reported.
Chapman’s video shows Alta, the Siberian tiger that mauled him to death, lying atop a wooden platform inside his enclosure moments before the attack.
Another visitor said Chapman was “dancing erratically” earlier in the day before reportedly climbing into the tiger’s enclosure despite other visitors’ desperate attempts to pull him back.
The mom, who was at the park with her children, tried to grab Chapman as he climbed over the fence, according to the visitor.
“He overpowered her and jumped” into the enclosure, the visitor told the Telegraph.
“She seemed really frightened. We spoke to her after and she was like, ‘I tried to pull him back,’ but I guess she didn’t want to risk her own life as well,” he said.
Further shocking footage shows Chapman yelling “no” and “stop” repeatedly at Altai as the fully-grown tiger lunged at him in front of horrified families and children.
One witness said “you could see blood,” as the beast began “dragging the man by the neck.”
Park workers fired two warning shots into the air with a shotgun to scare Altai off and try to reach Chapman.
Paramedics were scrambled to the zoo just after 1:30 p.m. local time, but Chapman was pronounced dead at the scene, with staff working quickly to evacuate the park.
Black screens were set up around Chapman’s body to try and hide the gruesome sight.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park remained closed on Sunday as traumatized staff were given specialist support.
Park authorities revealed on Monday that Altai was “safe and well,” and confirmed he would not be euthanized following the attack.
