William Chapman, a “vulnerable” man in his early 20s, has been identified as the visitor who was mauled to death by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park after filming himself climbing into the predator’s enclosure.
The young man traveled alone to the British wildlife park in northern England on Saturday, according to police. He came without companions to the facility, which houses more than 400 animals across 150 acres.
Chapman recorded his own footage from inside the enclosure of the 30-stone big cat moments before the fatal attack, reports said. The self-shot video captured his final actions as he entered the tiger’s habitat.
Another visitor who witnessed events earlier that day said that Chapman had been “dancing erratically” before the incident. This same witness said other visitors made desperate attempts to pull Chapman back as he climbed into the tiger’s enclosure, but their efforts failed to stop him.
The tiger involved in the attack weighs approximately 30 stone, or 420 pounds, making it a formidable predator. The enclosure Chapman entered was designed to contain an animal of that size and strength, not to protect an intruder from it.
Police confirmed Chapman’s identity on Tuesday, two days after the Saturday afternoon tragedy. Investigators have described him as “vulnerable,” though they have not specified what circumstances or conditions prompted that characterization.
The wildlife park, located near Doncaster in South Yorkshire, remains one of Britain’s most popular animal attractions. It features multiple themed areas and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors annually who come to observe species including lions, polar bears, and several varieties of big cats.
The circumstances of how Chapman breached the enclosure’s security barriers remain under investigation. Standard wildlife park designs typically incorporate multiple layers of fencing, moats, or elevated viewing platforms to separate visitors from dangerous animals.
Chapman’s death marks one of the most serious incidents in the park’s operational history. The facility has not announced any changes to its tiger exhibit operations or visitor protocols in the immediate aftermath.
