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Man ‘jumps into tiger enclosure’ before animal ‘shot by staff’ at wildlife park

A man on some grass next to a tiger, and a police van and cars outside Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
A man is said to have been mauled by a tiger (Picture: Charley Atkins/SWNS)

Yorkshire Wildlife Park has been closed for the rest of today and tomorrow after a ‘serious incident’ at the tiger enclosure.

Eyewitnesses described hearing shots fired after a man reportedly jumped into the Land of the Tigers area.

Police and an air ambulance descended on the scene as fellow visitors were evacuated.

Multiple people recalled seeing an ‘agitated’ male leaping into the enclosure, where he was grabbed and ‘mauled’ by one of the big cats.

It’s claimed that ‘five shots’ of what some called a ‘gas canister’ were then fired.

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Tia Hanson told Doncaster Free Press: ‘It looks as if someone has jumped into the enclosure.

The scene at Yorkshire Wildlife Park which has been evacuated and closed due to an ongoing emergency incident - with a huge police and paramedic presence at the site. // Eye witnesses say a ?black screen? has been erected around the tiger enclosure while there were reports of ?shots fired? shortly before the evacuation. Multiple witnesses say an ?agitated? male was seen to jump into the enclosure and was grabbed by one of the cats before ?five shots? of what some say was a ?gas canister? into the cage.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park was evacuated and has been closed for the weekend (Picture: Charley Atkins/SWNS)

‘People are saying they heard a gunshot, and they say someone either jumped in or fell in.’

She had been at the park with a friend when, at around 2pm, the walkway between the tiger enclosure and the exit was closed.

‘When you’re leaving, you have to walk past the tiger enclosure, and they’ve put up all sorts of black tarpaulin so you couldn’t really see.’

She added that there were ‘loads of police and ambulance people and a stretcher in the enclosure’.

‘It wasn’t nice – there were lots of people who looked really upset.’

Yorkshire Wildlife Park posted a statement on its website: ‘We can confirm that a serious incident has occurred today at the tiger enclosure.

UNCL GRABS: Man gets mauled by the tigers at Yorkshire wildlife park. Tiger ends up the one getting his life taken away
Eyewitnesses said an ‘agitated’ visitor jumped into the tiger enclosure
The scene at Yorkshire Wildlife Park which has been evacuated and closed due to an ongoing emergency incident - with a huge police and paramedic presence at the site. // Eye witnesses say a ?black screen? has been erected around the tiger enclosure while there were reports of ?shots fired? shortly before the evacuation. Multiple witnesses say an ?agitated? male was seen to jump into the enclosure and was grabbed by one of the cats before ?five shots? of what some say was a ?gas canister? into the cage. Photo released 10/10/2026
A black screen was erected around the scene as police and paramedics responded (Picture: Charley Atkins/SWNS)

‘Our emergency response procedures were immediately activated, and emergency services are currently attending the scene.

‘We are working closely with the authorities to ascertain exactly what happened.’

It added that the safety of visitors, staff, and animals remains the ‘highest priority’.

‘The park is now closed and will remain closed tomorrow.’

A Yorkshire Ambulance Service spokesperson confirmed that paramedics responded to calls of an incident at 1.33pm.

‘We sent a number of resources, including two land ambulances, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and a doctor.’

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