Father mauled to death by three tigers after climbing into their enclosure at zoo in China

ZOO visitors watched in horror as tigers attacked a man in front of his family after he broke into an enclosure in China.

A man has been fatally mauled by tigers at a zoo in China. Picture: CGTN

WARNING: Distressing details.

A FATHER has been mauled to death by three tigers in front of his wife and child at a zoo in China.

The Sun reported the man died after he entered the enclosure and walked towards the hungry cats as they were feeding at Ningbo Younger Zoo on Sunday.

Local reports say the man died from his injuries after the captive creatures bit into his head and neck.

Horrendous footage shared online by CGTN shows the visitor writhing in agony as the three animals bite and claw his body with their massive paws.

The tigers were undeterred when zoo keepers tried to scare them off with firecrackers and water cannons.

Other visitors watched helplessly as the man’s clothes were ripped off. At one point in the shocking clip the man unsuccessfully tries to fend off one of the tigers with his foot.

Zoo visitors watched in horror as tigers mauled a man to death. Picture: CGTN

According to ntdtv.com, one tiger was then seen dragging the man’s blood-soaked body into the enclosure woods by his foot.

A horrified witness told theSouth China Morning Post: “I saw the tiger mauling the person, whose face was covered with blood. Every time he sat up, the tiger pushed him down again.”

Bystanders said he walked into an isolation zone shortly before 2.30pm local time and crossed a river that separates the enclosure from visitors. Shocked witnesses told The Beijing News that the man was with his wife and child when he voluntarily entered the enclosure.

Emergency workers rushed the man to a hospital in east China’s Zhejiang Province.

Yesterday, a white Bengal tiger caused chaos in the streets of Sicily after escaping from a circus.

Residents barricaded themselves inside their homes, while the tiger was trapped and surrounded by special police in a private parking lot.

This story originally appeared in The Sun and has been republished here with permission.