Pictured: Man mauled to death by tiger at Yorkshire zoo

DAILYMAIL.COM • 6h ago

By ELIZABETH HAIGH, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER and JAMES FIELDING, SENIOR REPORTER and JAMES TOZER, NORTHERN CORRESPONDENT 11:21 13 Oct 2026, updated 17:45 13 Oct 2026

This is the first picture of the man killed by a tiger at a Yorkshire zoo after he jumped into the big cat’s enclosure.

Victim William Chapman posted a series of bizarre pictures and footage on social media in the days leading up to his decision to climb into the tiger’s cage on Saturday.

It included a terrifying video of the moment he entered the pen and approached a lone tiger lying on a raised wooden platform. Just minutes later, he was attacked and killed by the animal.

In the background, he can be heard breathing heavily as shocked onlookers cry out ‘oh my God’.

His Instagram account included a selfie taken at the gym, which he uploaded to social media hours before sharing the video of him slowly approaching the big cat.

Another picture shows him holding a bible and a crossbow while wearing the same clothes he had on when he entered the pen at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. In the image, shared on the day of his death, he has a crossbow bolt between his teeth.

Eyewitnesses at the zoo told how Mr Chapman, who has not been formally named and was described as vulnerable by police, had been dancing to music and 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, Mr Chapman, a former pupil of the Jackie Palmer Stage School in High Wycombe, 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.

The horrifying drama unfolded just minutes before emergency services were called at 1.35pm

It comes as a witness who took the final photograph of the man fought back tears as she pleaded with ‘not very nice’ trolls to think before they post.

Elsewhere on social media, Mr Chapman posted photographs of himself on a visit to the Pantheon in Paris, and of a Greek-style helmet on a stand, while other posts included references to social media influencers.

Visitors to the park on Saturday told how he shouted ‘stop’ several times and told the tiger to ‘stop being naughty’ after it attacked him. Onlookers said he appeared ‘not attached to reality’.

Distressing footage was uploaded to social media and showed the tiger pawing at and toying with the man. Parkgoers said they then saw it jump onto his neck.

It has been reported that as a child, he appeared in the ITV production May Contain Nuts alongside Shirley Henderson and Darren Boyd.

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

Visitors were rapidly evacuated and emergency services, including an air ambulance, rushed to the scene, but the man was confirmed to have died. Mr Chapman’s family are aware and are being supported by specialist officers.

Zookeepers were said to have done ‘everything they could’ to drive tiger 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.

It comes as a woman who took a picture of Mr Chapman just moments before he entered the enclosure appealed for trolls to stop posting about the incident in a tearful video on social media last night.

Del Taylor asked people joking about the attack online to ‘think about why maybe he’d do something like this’.

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.

‘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 placed 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 Mr Chapman as having been dancing up and down a walkway above the enclosure before asking Ms Taylor for the picture.

A video clip appeared to show him 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.

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