A tiger has been killed after mauling a tourist to death at a zoo in Ningbo, China.
The male victim, identified as Zhang, was visiting the zoo with his wife, children and coworker and coworker’s wife. His coworker, Li, told CCTV that the women and children had bought tickets to enter the zoo but both men decided to climb over the zoo’s 3-meter outer wall and wire netting. Adult tickets reportedly cost 130 yuan.
Ignoring warnings displayed around the Ningbo zoo fencing, Zhang climbed over the wire netting, unassumingly entering the tiger enclosure. Li did not follow Zhang.
Footage shows a pack of tigers surrounding Zhang before fireworks and water guns were used by Ningbo zoo staff to scare the animals away. One tiger that was seemingly undisturbed by the deterrence attempt dragged Zhang away before workers shot and killed the tiger. The rescue took over an hour.
Zhang was rushed to hospital but died from his injuries.
On Chinese social media, the tiger seems to have been receiving more sympathy than Zhang. Shanghaiist reports one user writing, “A fucking idiot climbs over two walls into a tiger’s home and the tiger gets shot and killed for doing what is natural. How is that fair? They should have just let him die,”
In July last year, a mother was killed in a Beijing safari by a tiger after trying to save her daughter who got out of the car at the Siberian tiger enclosure.
