According to eyewitnesses, the people around the enclosure were frantically telling the young man to “play dead”, but he did not understand, and was telling the tiger to “stop being naughty”.
One witness said the victim had been “by himself, dancing, with headphones in” moments earlier.
Anthony Hunt had been at the wildlife park with his girlfriend Scarlet, on a date. They had been taking pictures of the animal, called Altai, when they saw its composure change and its head turn.
“We noticed the tiger’s behaviour change. Its eyes locked on to something in the enclosure. We thought maybe he’s getting fed. When Scarlett was taking photos – we suddenly saw in the camera lens that a guy had entered the enclosure”, said Anthony.
The victim “bowed down, on all fours, started praying, and looking up at the sky”, he said.
“The tiger was still on the landing at this point” but then “leapt off the landing, and sniffed the guy”.
Anthony describes the victim as being almost “in a trance” and “not attached to reality”.
Later, the couple spoke to a woman who said she’d “tried to stop him” from entering the enclosure, claiming she’d “tried to pull him back” but was unable to stop him.
“She was shaken up”, said Anthony, who claims the woman was there with her two children.
Another witness, Alex Underwood, who had been visiting the wildlife park with his girlfriend, said the victim had asked his partner to take a picture of him shortly before he climbed into the enclosure.
“We were on the tiger bridge and I spotted him – he was dancing with his earphones on,” Alex said.
“He said ‘can you take a photo of me please?’. She [my girlfriend] said ‘yes’. Then he said ‘another one, another one’. He didn’t look into the camera.
“He looked at us both and said thank you.”
Alex, who said he left the bridge with his girlfriend soon after, added: “We heard someone had jumped in and thought of him for some reason.”
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, South Yorkshire Police said.
In a statement on social media on Saturday, the park said its “emergency response procedures were immediately activated”.
Another statement posted later said that “many, many people” had contacted them about Altai, and confirmed that he is “safe and well” and will not be euthanised.
Members of staff were “deeply affected” by the incident and are receiving specialist support, the statement continued, with the park closed over the weekend.
The park will remain closed all day Monday, while City of Doncaster Council said it had launched a health and safety investigation into the incident.
Videos circulating online appear to show a man being pawed at and grappled by the tiger inside the enclosure.
Animal keeper Reece Oliver told Sky News the 30-stone (200kg) tiger was probably “just playing” when it began pawing the man.
“If it really wanted to kill him, it would have probably killed him within 10 seconds,” he said.
“I don’t think it knew what he was going to do, because the only thing that goes into that enclosure normally would be enrichment toys or food.
“So, I think he was probably just playing, using his predatory instinct, seeing what it was, what he was, and unfortunately it ended up being a fatal attack.”
South Yorkshire Police said it had “received reports of a man entering a tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park” on Saturday afternoon.
“The tiger subsequently attacked the man, resulting in serious injury,” police said.
“Emergency services attended and sadly, despite the best efforts of medical personnel, the man was pronounced dead at the scene.”
A Yorkshire Ambulance Service spokesperson confirmed two land ambulances, Yorkshire Air Ambulance, and a doctor had attended the scene.
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Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary and MP for Doncaster North, said he was “deeply saddened” by the incident.
“I send my thoughts and deepest condolences to the family of the individual who died. I am very grateful to the emergency services and staff of the park who responded,” he wrote in a social media post.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park opened in 2009, with the Land of the Tigers attraction opening in 2011. The park also houses lions, giraffes, tigers, leopards and black rhinos.
A 300-metre-long raised walkway runs through the attraction, which is a purpose-built, two-acre reserve for Amur tigers, an endangered subspecies with a population of around 500 left in the wild.
