Shots fired' at Yorkshire Wildlife Park after tiger attacked man 'who jumped into enclosure'
'Shots were fired' at a UK wildlife park after a man jumped inside of a tiger enclosure, stunned visitors have claimed.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park was hastily evacuated on Saturday (10 October) amid reports that a guest had entered the 'Land of the Tigers' area.
The park has confirmed it has closed its doors for the weekend in wake of what it described as a 'serious incident', while cops announced the man had sustained a 'serious injury' in the enclosure.
Shocking footage circulating on social media appears to show a man in extremely close proximity to one of the big cats while inside of the tiger enclosure.
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In a statement shared with LADbible, South Yorkshire Police urged people not to share the 'distressing footage'.
The force said: "At 1.35pm today, we received reports of a man entering a tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. The tiger has subsequently attacked the man and this has resulted in serious injury.
The statement continued: ""Officers are working at pace to make contact with the man’s family and no further detail will be provided at this time.
"The tiger remained in the enclosure following the incident and there is no wider risk to the public.
Following the incident, Yorkshire Wildlife Park was evacuated and officers remain on scene carrying out enquiries.
"We are aware of videos circulating online and we would encourage people not to share this distressing footage."
According to local news outlet The Star, the 'agitated' bloke came into contact with one of the animals.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park's statement
In a statement on its website, Yorkshire Wildlife Park confirmed that a 'serious incident' had unfolded earlier this afternoon.
It read: "We can confirm that a serious incident has occurred today at the tiger enclosure
"Our emergency response procedures were immediately activated, and emergency services are currently attending the scene.
"We are working closely with the authorities to ascertain exactly what happened. The safety and wellbeing of our visitors, staff and animals remain our highest priority.
"The park is now closed and will remain closed tomorrow."
LADbible has contacted Yorkshire Wildlife Park for further comment.
Police and an air ambulance were pictured at the scene in wake of the incident.
A woman who was attending the wildlife park with a pal claimed the scene looks as though 'someone has jumped into the enclosure'.
"People are saying they heard a gunshot and they say someone either jumped in, or fell in," Tia Hanson told The Star.
Reports suggest these 'gunshot' sounds might have been made by gas canister and tranquilliser darts that were deployed into the enclosure.
Those at the wildlife park claimed they heard at least five bangs ring out.
Tia was at the park for a day out with a pal when, at around 2pm, she noticed that the walkway between the tiger enclosure and the exit had been closed.
'Lots of people looked really upset'
"There was an air ambulance and police everywhere," she explained.
"We’ve all been made to leave. When you’re leaving you have to walk past the tiger enclosure and they’ve put up all sort of black tarpaulin so you couldn’t really see.
"It wasn’t nice - there were lots of people who looked really upset."
A spokesperson for the Yorkshire Ambulance Service confirmed that it had responded to an incident at Yorkshire Wildlife Park after receiving a call just after 1.30pm.
"We sent a number of resources, including two land ambulances, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and a doctor," a statement shared with LADbible explained.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park's website explains that visitors can 'take a spectacular walk along the 300 meter long raised walkway above' the tigers.
"Witness the majestic cats freely roaming their woodlands and grasslands or playing in their very own waterfall pool," it states.
The shocking incident comes just months after a three-year-old boy was left with life-changing injuries after he ended up in a crocodile enclosure at a UK zoo.
A 30-year-old man from Norfolk was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following the incident at Johnson's Zoo in Cambridgeshire on 18 June.
He was later bailed as police said he was 'assessed as not being fit for interview'. The suspect in the case reportedly has learning difficulties and had been on a trip with carers.
Olivia Burke