The man who was killed by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in England has been identified as William Chapman.
On Saturday afternoon, Chapman jumped into an enclosure at the park and walked up to Altai — a 420-pound rare Siberian tiger, who mauled him to death.
Moments before the attack, Chapman filmed himself inside the enclosure and posted the short video to his social media.
Watch it here:
The man mauled by a tiger after entering its enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park has been identified as William Chapman. He posted a video of himself inside the enclosure moments before the attack. https://t.co/w94NKZM3AS pic.twitter.com/yS68yF6v97
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 13, 2026
Witnesses described Chapman as appearing very happy before the incident.
They also said he seemed detached from reality as the tiger started showing aggression towards him.
The New York Post shared:
Before the attack Saturday, zoo-goers recalled seeing him dancing happily and even asking a stranger to take a photo of him with Altai in the background, asking, “One more, one more, one more!”
“Thank you, lady,” he was heard saying in the footage the witness has handed over to investigators.
“He was so happy,” Del Taylor, the woman who snapped his pics, said.
Onlookers said Chapman appeared “not attached to reality” as the tiger started attacking him, with him ordering the beast to “stop being naughty” as it mauled at him.
Park workers fired two warning shots with a shotgun to scare off Altai, who retreated to his pen as officials rushed to try and save Chapman, who was instead pronounced dead at the scene.
No further details have yet been released about why he jumped into the enclosure, after it was reported that he traveled to the park alone from the nearby town of Doncaster, where he was living.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which remained closed on Sunday, confirmed that Altai was “safe and well,” and said the tiger would not be euthanized following the incident.
William Chapman is a former child actor, who appeared on programs for British television networks.
BBC provided additional information about his background:
It is understood Chapman, who was in his mid-20s, was a former pupil of the Jackie Palmer Stage School in High Wycombe.
As a child, he appeared in the ITV production May Contain Nuts alongside Shirley Henderson, best known for playing Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films, and Darren Boyd.
He also portrayed Edward Jenner in the BBC series True Stories.
City of Doncaster Council has also launched a health and safety investigation into the death, which a spokesperson said was “in line with our statutory duties”.
At this time, we do not know exactly why Chapman jumped into the enclosure.
But, whatever led up to this, it’s a sad, horrific tragedy.
May he rest in peace.
What are your thoughts?
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
