A trip to Yorkshire Wildlife Park in northern England ended in tragedy for a man in his mid-20s over the weekend after he entered a tiger enclosure.
Viral videos of the incident show a 420-pound big cat named Altai dragging and biting him, before ultimately claiming his life as horrified witnesses scream in the background.
Authorities withheld his identity at his family’s request, but several news outlets identified him on Tuesday, October 13, through his social media account.
His photograph has now been shared publicly, alongside further details about his faith and final moments.
Photo of Yorkshire Wildlife Park victim surfaces as his last steps come under scrutiny
William Chapman, a Doncaster resident, has been named as the man fatally mauled by Altai on Saturday, October 10.
A picture from his Instagram account shows him posing shirtless for a mirror selfie.
A video he posted to the platform minutes before his passing, meanwhile, shows him slowly approaching the tiger, which was resting on a raised wooden platform.
He can be heard breathing heavily in the clip as horrified bystanders urge him to turn back, with one person shouting, “Seriously!”
Another image of Chapman has also surfaced.
A snap, reportedly taken on the day of his passing, shows him posing with a Bible.
The unsettling photograph shows Chapman sitting on a kitchen countertop, an arrow clenched between his teeth, with a crossbow resting on his lap.
A witness previously claimed she saw Chapman pray to the tiger as it attacked him
Scarlet Hogan, a pharmacy worker who was visiting Yorkshire Wildlife Park with her partner, Anthony Hunt, recounted Chapman’s actions in an interview with The Telegraph on Sunday.
She said they had been taking pictures of Altai when she noticed a visitor entering the restricted area.
“The tiger got alerted. He went into stalk mode. The tiger came flying off the ledge and approached him,” she added.
In response, “The man started praying to the tiger, bowing down to it — the tiger looked a bit confused.”
According to Hogan, Chapman appeared to be “in a trance, not in reality at all” in the moments leading up to the attack.
The last thing she and Hunt saw was the tiger’s jaws clamped around the man’s neck.
They then heard firearms being discharged by park rangers, who aimed at the ground to frighten the animal away.
However, the efforts proved insufficient.
The couple was later told by police that Chapman had perished at the scene despite life-saving efforts by emergency medical personnel.
A woman with two children reportedly tried to stop Chapman from entering the restricted area
🚨 NEW: The man mauled by a tiger after entering its enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park has been named as William Chapman
He posted a video of himself inside the enclosure just moments before the attack pic.twitter.com/gTFIZXXQPS
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) October 13, 2026
Hunt and Hogan had seen Chapman dancing “erratically” earlier in the day while they were parking their car, but they thought little of it at the time.
The pair spotted him again inside the wildlife park after visiting the penguin and cheetahs.
Hunt said he then noticed a woman visiting with her children trying to pull Chapman back as he tried to climb over the barrier surrounding the tiger habitat.
However, he “overpowered her and jumped off,” he said.
İngiltere’de Yorkshire Vahşi Yaşam Parkı’nda bir kaplanın kafesine atlayan genç, kaplanın saldırısına uğraması sonucu hayatını kaybetti. https://t.co/s6u97Rt9ts
— unutulmaz. (@unutulmazhaber) October 10, 2026
“She seemed really frightened,” Hunt recalled. “We spoke to her after, and she was like, ‘I tried to pull him back,’ but I guess she didn’t want to risk her own life as well.”
The mother of two also reportedly told Hunt that Chapman had been “saying something religious” before jumping into the enclosure.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park officials have confirmed Altai’s fate following the fatal attack
Footage of the incident involving Chapman sparked widespread discussion online.
While many blamed Chapman for what happened to him, others argued that park authorities should have “fired at the tiger to save him.”
On October 11, Yorkshire Wildlife Park confirmed that Altai was “safe and well” and would not be euthanized following the incident.
The park also said it would remain closed for the day and that staff members involved in the incident would receive specialist support.
Charlotte Pywell, an animal ranger at the park, said: “I don’t know who the guy was or what made him jump. It was not the tiger’s fault at all. It was just something else to play with. The keepers are all distraught.”
Doncaster City Council has ordered a health and safety investigation into the incident under statutory regulations.
“Its possible he believed he had divine protection and wouldn’t be harmed,” a netizen said about Chapman
