Man fatally mauled by tiger prayed, bowed down to big cat inside UK wildlife enclosure after stranger tried to pull him back

The man mauled to death by a tigerat a UK zoo was seen “praying” and “bowing” to the beast after he jumped into its enclosure, witnesses said – while also revealing a stranger had desperately tried to pull him back as he leapt.

The man “started praying to the tiger, bowing down to it” after he made his way into the big cat’s enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday, witness Scarlet Hogan, 21, told The Telegraph.

“The tiger looked a bit confused,” she added.

“Up until he got attacked, it was like he was in a trace, not in reality at all,” Hogan said.

The zoo visitor also recounted that the man took his phone out and “looked like he was taking selfies” with the wild animal inside its home.

“Then when he got on all fours, he started praying. It was the strangest thing ever,” she said.

Hogan, who was visiting the park with her boyfriend Anthony Hunt, also said a brief struggle took place before the man made his way into the enclosure.

The couple said a mother viewing the “Land of the Tigers” exhibit with her two children “desperately tried to pull back” the man when he went to throw himself into Altai the Siberian tiger’s enclosure.

“He overpowered her and jumped off. She seemed really frightened,” Hunt told the outlet.

The mother told the couple she heard the man “saying something religious,” they said.

Hogan and Hunt had spotted the man dancing “erratically” earlier in the day in another part of the park, but didn’t think anything about it at the time.

Another witness said she saw the man dancing, listening to music with his AirPods before he leapt into Altai’s enclosure.

Marie Miller, said the young man was “happily enjoying seeing the tiger” before he jumped in and was attacked.

Viral video shared online shows the tiger biting and clawing at the man’s back as he sat on the grass and tried to fend off the assault, raising his finger toward the animal and yelling at it.

The man, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was subsequently mauled.

“He had arms wide open ready for the tiger to attack him. It was quite bad,” Hogan said. “We were just stood there, frozen…the last thing we saw was the tiger’s jaw on his neck.”

He was pronounced dead at the scene, South Yorkshire Police said.

A black screen was placed around the enclosure after the deadly attack, and the park closed for the remainder of the weekend.

“Our emergency response procedures were immediately activated,” Yorkshire Wildlife Park said in a statement.

“We are working closely with the authorities to ascertain exactly what happened. The safety and wellbeing of our visitors, staff and animals remain our highest priority.”

The park also confirmed that Altai is “safe and well and will not be euthanized as a result of this incident.”

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