Tiger mauls man in front of crowd at Chinese zoo

Jan. 30 (UPI) -- A man who reportedly scaled two zoo walls to avoid paying admission instead dropped into a tiger enclosure, where he was mauled to death in front of a shocked crowd that included his family.

Officials at the Youngor Wildlife Park in Ningbo, China, spent an hour Sunday trying to rescue the man. They were eventually able to pull him from the enclosure. He was taken to a nearby hospital but doctors were unable to save his life. The tiger was killed.

The zoo was abruptly closed after the attack and remained closed Monday.

The man, identified by local tourism officials only as Zhang, was visiting the park with his wife and child, as well as a friend named Li and his family. The women and children bought tickets and entered the park, but Zhang and Li decided to scale a 10-foot wall to avoid paying. They climbed another 10-foot wall and Zhang dropped to the ground, where he was immediately attacked by a male tiger. Li did not follow.

Officials say they all watched Zhang's mauling with other screaming visitors, many holding up phones to record the incident.

"Zhang and Li climbed over a three-meter wall from the northwest side of the zoo, ignoring warning signs along the wire fence, before scaling over another three-meter [fence] into the tiger enclosure," park officials said in a statement. "Zhang entered the pen. Li did not."

A male tiger grabbed Zhang by the neck, dragging him toward some trees where two other tigers were standing and would not let him get away. Video of the incident showed Zhang trying in vain to fend off the tigers.

"I saw the tiger mauling the person, whose face was covered with blood," one witness reported. "Every time he sat up, the tiger pushed him down again."

Eventually, the tigers were scared off using firecrackers and water hoses, allowing rescuers to reach Zhang. The tiger who mauled him was later shot and killed by a special forces police unit.

The incident has created a firestorm on social media in China, with most people sympathizing with the tiger.

The reaction has been similar to the sentiment following themauling of a woman and her mother at a Beijing drive-through safari park in July. The mother was killed trying to rescue her daughter, who survived and is now suing the wildlife park.