NEW DELHI: A white tiger on Tuesday attacked and killed a youth who appeared to have jumped or fallen into its enclosure at a zoo in the Indian capital, witnesses said.
The tiger grabbed the youth by the neck after he entered the enclosure at the New Delhi zoo as onlookers screamed and threw sticks and stones to try to save him, they said.
"The boy seems to have leapt over the railing into the tiger enclosure. It was a white tiger that attacked," New Delhi zoo manager Riaz Khan told AFP. "We are trying to find out who this boy was and why he did what he did. The police are here and they are investigating."
Accounts varied of the victim's age, with some witnesses saying he was in his mid-teens while others saying he appeared to be in his 20s.
One official said he also appeared to have been "under the influence of alcohol".
"The security had tried to keep him away from the enclosure but he somehow managed to jump in and the white tiger who was present at the enclosure leapt on to him," junior official Rohit Kumar told AFP. "This is the first time such an incident has occurred in this enclosure."
Photos posted online of the attack show the tiger standing over the victim, who was lying on the grass curled into a ball and trying to protect his head with his hands.
"We are all in a complete state of shock," said Amitabh Agnihotri, the director of the National Zoological Park, adding that the body was being sent for a post-mortem examination. "The tiger grabbed the youth and killed him. I am not clear whether the youth jumped into the cage or he slipped accidentally."
Authorities have yet to ascertain whether the student was alone or accompanied by friends. "The barricade was too low and it seems the tiger grabbed the youth into his cage and firmly latched on to the youth's neck," an eyewitness who alerted the police told an Indian news channel.
A witness said he raced to the enclosure after hearing screams, to see the victim locked in the tiger's jaws, "writhing badly in pain".
"Around 1.30 pm, when we were in the reptiles area, we heard very loud screams," Himanshu, who only gave one name, told CNN-IBN news channel. "We saw some kids throwing in small sticks and stones inside the tiger enclosure. Then we saw that a white tiger had caught a boy by his neck and he was writhing badly in pain. He kept suffering for the next 10-15 minutes but nobody helped him."
Himanshu said the railing of the tiger enclosure was "very low" and speculated that the victim may have fallen in.
"I called the police, the police came very quickly, but the guy couldn't be saved, he died."
The victim's body was lying in a corner of the enclosure, drapped in a white sheet, while the tiger had been removed, an AFP reporter said.
The enclosure is separated from visitors by a concrete ditch, with shrubs on the other side of the ditch followed by a two-foot-high (61-centimetre) railing.
Another witness said the tiger kept "roaming around" the enclosure, holding the victim by the neck.
"The tiger first caught his neck and then left him before coming back again and taking him to the other side (of the enclosure) by his neck," Bitto, who only gave one name, told TV networks.
The zoo has three white tigers, although only one of them is let out into the enclosure daily for visitors to see, a zoo official said.
White tigers are found in southern and eastern Asia, particularly India, and owe their appearance to a recessive gene. They are regarded as an endangered species.
India is home to 1,706 Royal Bengal tigers and fewer than 100 white tigers, according to the last census in 2011. All the white tigers are in captivity.
Rampant poaching and loss of habitat due to human encroachment are cited as the major challenges to tiger conservation efforts.
COMMENTS (21)
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@Strategic Asset: It also painful that some of them made video of this and posted in social media. As a human being I could not see the video in full.
Once again I will blame on authorities when boy started attempt to crosse the fence than stood on ston Ridge, why some one could stop him? although it took some 10-15 minuts between boy and tiger, zoo authority could have done some thing to save the boy.
its so callous playing politics asad i my self am a pakistani but what happened with this boy is so distressing i just hope he rests in peace he was a kid he didnt know he,ll fall in so dont think of this as a joke his also someones son before religion culture we r human being, my condolences go out to his family, hope they get over this pain!
Need one security person with some of safery items near by wild animals area. Iam Very Very sad, lake of concern,s zoo
Its so bad to hear about the boy. The Zoo authorities need to have a Emergency Response Team for these kind of incidents. This could have saved the boy.
I am amazed that that can happen in India of which I have a high opinion and I had reckoned that it was almost like a developed country. Where were the Zoo personnel? Why did those watching the horrid "spectacle" not run to the authorities to report immediately? Why was the animal not tranquilized immediately. I feel very sad for the lost life and the poor kid.
Very sorry for the loss of an innocent young man may his soul rest in peace his father told that from the last two years he was having mental prolems and getting treatment too.
some people are so sick and callous for blaming the boy.. haven't you read the railing was low, what if he had slipped... the zoo officials are responsible for this tragic loss of life.
Somehow I think the boy's "friends" are responsible for this. That they goaded him into jumping into the cage in true desi fashion.
The boy leaned too far over the barricade to take a photo and he fell in. Pleading with the tiger to spare him seemed to work for a while until the onlookers tried to distract the tiger. The only thing that would have scared away the tiger would have been firecrackers. But pelting stones was a big mistake.
@Asad: Indians only blame ISI when ISI is involved like 26/11 Bombay attack in which 10 Pakistani Muslims pretending to be Hindus killed 40 Indian Muslims and 124 non-Muslims from 12 different countries.
Really is a concerning state for the Indian Zoo authorities.
This guy probably wanted a selfie with the white tiger. Poor chap didn't survive to see his pic getting so many likes and comments in Facebook.
@Dr Priyanka: Before you jump on the authorities, note that all of this happened within 10-15 minutes.
Firstly this 20 year old "school boy" jumped over a fence, walked past bushes and stood on a concrete ridge to photograph the tiger in an attempt at bravado before he slipped and fell down.
The tiger was not bothered by this person at first and made no attempt to go near him, but then some of the onlookers started throwing stones at the tiger to foolishly shoo it away. This infuriated the tiger so much that it swiped at the person probably killing him instantly before dragging him away by his neck. The tiger made no attempt to eat the victim.
While all of the above was going on, a few other onlookers were busy snapping pictures like the one above.
Height of stupidity and insensitivity, what else to say?
RIP and sypathy for grief family of the boy, Zoo authority must have had trenqulizer bullets gun to unconcious the tiger to save the boy.
@Asad you are Sick! Stop playing politics over such issues
he was 20 yrs old. RIP!. Negligence on the part of the authorities. They did not have darts to save the man. By the way what made him climb over the high walls and land in the tiger's enclosure?
Very sad,lake of concern,s zoo
RIP to the guy and please leave the tiger alone
Very tragic :(
Condolences to the boy's family. I hope the Indians don't blame ISI for this one!