Zookeeper mauled to death by rare tiger after making vital 'mistake' while feeding it

A zookeeper was recently killed on site by a white tiger who was believed to have been protecting her cubs.

Originally from the Crimean Peninsula, a keeper at Ukraine's Mariupol Zoo made a crucial mistake whilst doing his usual feeding and cleaning rounds.

Alexey Melnikov, who'd previously appeared on Russian TV and told cameras that he 'can't live without animals', paid the ultimate price by forgetting to move the rare white bengal tiger named Lucy before entering her domain during feeding time

Fellow keeper Galina Zamarakhina said: “I turned around and said ‘Lyosha [Alexey], where’s Lucy?’

“He said: ‘In that booth, I moved her over already’.”

Unfortunately Alexey had actually forgotten to move the animal to another cage, with Galina hearing a 'scream' and only just managing to close the cage in time and avoid a similar fate to his colleague.

He said: "She [the tigress] was looking at me. I don’t know how I managed to shut it."

Alexey Melnikov had previously appeared on Russian TV (East2West News)

The Ukrainian zoo's director Savely Vashura said of the horrific incident: "The white tigress has four cubs. She came out from behind, and bam – the man was gone. Maybe he got distracted, maybe something else happened – he was only human."

The Russian Investigative Committee has now launched a criminal probe, with a spokesperson also sharing: "A white tiger attacked an employee of the Mariupol Zoo.

"According to preliminary data, the animal attacked the employee when he entered the enclosure to feed it. The man died from the injuries he received."

Lucy - technically a 'leucistic morph' of the Bengal tiger - apparently 'gnawed' on Melnikov's head.

In a similar big-cat encounter that happened nine years ago, one mother's visit to Badaling Wildlife World in Beijing ended in tragedy when she exited her car on the safari road to save her daughter.

Prior to entering the Chinese wildlife park, the daughter (whose surname is Zhao) signed a document agreeing not to get out of her vehicle - what with all the apex predators roaming around - but eventually became overwhelmed with car-sickness.

Tragic footage from the scene revealed this woman casually walking around to the other side of the car while fellow safari lovers parked up to enjoy the exotic sights in the background.

Alexey Melnikov was killed by a white bengal tiger named Lucy (East2West News)

Suddenly, a Siberian tiger rushed at her, dragging her away from the road.

Her family immediately got out of the car in a panic and ran to her aid, yet her mother was pounced on by a different tiger and mauled to death.

Post-tragedy, the Yanqing district government confirmed there had been an incident at Badaling Wildlife World.

Zhao survived and went on to file a lawsuit against the zoological establishment, claiming that she hadn't been properly informed of the dangers it housed and that a ranger had failed to jump to the family's rescue when attacked.

The district would subsequently publish a report stating that this was not an 'industry security accident', meaning Badaling wouldn't face any penalties and that the park visitor behaved irresponsibly.