10/13/2026
DEATH AT WILDLIFE PARK
Unsupervised visitors near captive wildlife, held for entertainment
On Saturday 10/10, at Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster, UK, a man tragically lost his life after jumping into an enclosure occupied by a tiger called Altai, who behaved as tigers do, whether in play or hunting. Despite the efforts of emergency services, the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
The park confirmed very quickly that Altai would not be killed, a decision that appears universally supported, as even in tiger play, a human is unlikely to survive. This contrasts with some previous attacks. In Peru, circus lion Smith attacked an audience member during a trick requiring him to jump over their head. ADI met with officials and fought off a petition to have him killed, he was doing what comes naturally. We rescued him days later.
There appears to be a growing recognition that these types of attacks are generally the responsibility of the humans involved. We would normally understand the play hunting actions of big cats with their body strength, teeth, claws and humans are unlikely to survive their play, let alone serious hunting intent. It is why having these animals as pets is so inappropriate.
There has been speculation as to the mental state of the man, however, this incident follows another in June, where a man was arrested after throwing a three-year old child into a crocodile enclosure in a Cambridgeshire zoo, raising the question of what steps need to be taken to protect visitors but also the animals from visitors who might harm them, or others.
From the videos ADI has seen, Altai’s enclosure was fairly large and looks secure enough to stop the tiger escaping but the man, was able to climb up and leapt into it. Reportedly, there were up to 20 unsupervised visitors on the walkway at the time.
Such incidents of irresponsible zoo visitor behaviour come to light when there is danger to humans, but lack of supervision is more likely to result in the torment of less dangerous animals. Banging on glass enclosures, dropping things from walkways, feeding animals inappropriate things, have all previously been identified at other establishments.
Last year the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary and other leading sanctuaries in South Africa presented a policy proposal to the Government of South Africa identifying what constitutes a ‘true sanctuary’ – distinguishing our sector from commercial lion establishments and pseudo-sanctuaries, set up for public entertainment or breeding. Key regulations we would like to see adopted include no breeding, no taking animals from the wild, no physical contact with the animals, and importantly, ‘No unescorted public visitation or contact with wild animals’.
Sanctuaries often allow visitors, in order to raise funds for animal care, and for transparency. However, numbers and oversight must be strictly controlled at any facility with animals. A staff member needs to be present with visitors at all times, to protect the animals – to say “move along” or to stop inappropriate behaviour.
ADI cannot speak specifically about the case of Altai – there may have been a lapse in protocols. However, we have seen the lack of visitor oversight in many captive animal establishments which leads to inappropriate behaviour, and even tragedy.
It is not acceptable to allow people to continue to wander unsupervised around cages or enclosures occupied by wild animals for amusement, and hope no one will do something to either harm themselves, others, or the captive animal.
This is a tragedy but perhaps something be learned from it.
