William Chapman’s family has spoken out after the former child actor died entering a tiger enclosure at a UK wildlife park.
The 26-year-old, who appeared in BBC and ITV productions as a boy, was pronounced dead at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on October 10 after climbing into the habitat shared by two Amur tigers. South Yorkshire Police have since asked the public not to share social media footage of the fatal attack.
Chapman’s family issued a statement through police saying he had suffered from “significant mental illness” throughout his life, reports said. They described him as a “much-loved son and brother” and asked for privacy as they grieved.
The actor’s brief screen career included roles in two notable British productions. In 2009 he appeared in the ITV comedy “May Contain Nuts” alongside Shirley Henderson, the actress later known for playing Moaning Myrtle in the “Harry Potter” films. Three years later he portrayed scientist Edward Jenner in a BBC “True Stories” learning video. His IMDb page lists no further credits after 2012.
Witnesses described Chapman’s behavior in the minutes before the incident as erratic and detached. Ella Ford, who visited the park that day with her boyfriend, said that Chapman had been “pacing around with his headphones in” before he “climbed up onto the barriers” and then “crawled in front of the tiger,” She said he began shouting for help once the animal attacked him.
Another visitor told the Mail on Sunday that Chapman had been “dancing” with his earphones in and had approached a stranger to request a photo with the tiger in the background shortly before entering the enclosure.
Alice, a woman who was at the park with friends and their young children, shared her account with the outlet. “It felt chaotic,” she said. “People near us were saying how they’d been near the tiger enclosure when they’d seen a young man climbing the fence into the enclosure where he had provoked the tigers which then retaliated.”
“Some saying the tigers were shot, others saying it was gas canisters to spook them into their enclosures,” she continued. “When we left we had to walk the length of the park and pass nearby the tiger enclosure and could see emergency services dealing with the scene from afar but not close enough to make out any casualties etc.”
Footage that circulated online, which appeared to be filmed by Chapman himself, showed the tiger from a few meters away on a wooden platform. The clip captured people shouting for the filmer to get out of the enclosure.
The tiger involved in the attack, a male named Altai, will not be euthanized, park officials confirmed. Altai shares his two-acre enclosure with a tigress, Tschuna. Born in Norway, he arrived at the park last year. Amur tigers rank among the world’s largest big cats, with males reaching 160-190kg, and fewer than 500 remain in the wild.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park has remained closed since the attack. The facility, located near Doncaster in South Yorkshire, houses over 400 animals across 150 acres and has drawn visitors since opening in 2009.
Chapman’s death has reignited debate about zoo safety protocols and barriers at wildlife attractions, though park officials have not announced any structural changes to the tiger enclosure.