Man Killed By Tiger Identified as Former Child Actor, Filmed Himself Inside Enclosure Before Attack

The man mauled by a tiger after entering its enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park has been identified as William Chapman. He posted a video of himself inside the enclosure moments before the attack. https://t.co/w94NKZM3AS pic.twitter.com/yS68yF6v97

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Before the attack Saturday, zoo-goers recalled seeing him dancing happily and even asking a stranger to take a photo of him with Altai in the background, asking, “One more, one more, one more!”

“Thank you, lady,” he was heard saying in the footage the witness has handed over to investigators.

“He was so happy,” Del Taylor, the woman who snapped his pics, said.

Onlookers said Chapman appeared “not attached to reality” as the tiger started attacking him, with him ordering the beast to “stop being naughty” as it mauled at him.

Park workers fired two warning shots with a shotgun to scare off Altai, who retreated to his pen as officials rushed to try and save Chapman, who was instead pronounced dead at the scene.

No further details have yet been released about why he jumped into the enclosure, after it was reported that he traveled to the park alone from the nearby town of Doncaster, where he was living.

Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which remained closed on Sunday, confirmed that Altai was “safe and well,” and said the tiger would not be euthanized following the incident.

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It is understood Chapman, who was in his mid-20s, was a former pupil of the Jackie Palmer Stage School in High Wycombe.

As a child, he appeared in the ITV production May Contain Nuts alongside Shirley Henderson, best known for playing Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films, and Darren Boyd.

He also portrayed Edward Jenner in the BBC series True Stories.

City of Doncaster Council has also launched a health and safety investigation into the death, which a spokesperson said was “in line with our statutory duties”.

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