Man mauled by Bengal tiger at Chengdu zoo

TOURISTS have told of their shock and horror after they witnessed a man climbing into a tiger enclosure at the zoo.

Horrified tourists look on as a man jumped into the tiger enclosure at Chengdu Zoo. Pictu

TOURISTS at Chengdu Zoo in southwest China have told of their shock and horror after they witnessed a man climbing into a tiger enclosure.

Twenty-year-old Yang Jinhai lowered himself into the enclosure with a male and female Bengal tiger and tried to antagonise the animals. One report stated he had rice in his backpack.

Witness Feng Lin told local media: “He climbed up the outside of the cage and jumped inside expecting, I assume, that the tigers would pounce on him. Instead the two tigers, a male and a female, seemed more nervous than anything else and the female actually ran off.”

The male tiger eventually scratched and bit at the man before zookeepers fired a tranquillising dart into the animal and rescued the man from the enclosure.

His motives were not confirmed, although the paper stated the man had told onlookers that he wanted to improve the lives of the tigers by offering himself to them.

According to the ECNS website, a member of the zoo staff told the West China City Daily newspaper: “If it had been a Siberian tiger, the consequences would have been unimaginable.”

The man is now receiving counselling, local media outlets reported.

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