White tiger mauls man who fell in its enclosure

In a rare and gruesome incident, a white tiger at a Delhi zoo mauled a young man after he fell into its enclosure on Tuesday afternoon.

According to media reports, the man, believed to be a school-going lad apparently slipped and fell into the beast’s enclosure.

Eye-witnesses said, the boy in his early twenties, slipped and fell into a dry moat into the tiger’s enclosure.

It has been learnt that some visitors tried to distract the tiger by throwing stones and sticks, but all their efforts went in vain, as the animal grabbed the victim by his neck and took him inside the enclosure.

Locked in the tiger's jaws, the man died "writhing badly in pain", said the eye-witnesses.

Another eye-witness said, "The tiger didn't attack at first, till stones were thrown at it…. The man folding his hands before the tiger, who kept looking at the man…. The man tried to run away but the tiger swiped at him, wounding his neck. Then it carried him away by the head."

The incident brought back the memory of a similar incident which happened years’ ago in Kolkata zoo.

On 1 January 1996 the tiger “Shiva” mauled two visitors as they tried to garland it, killing one and grievously injuring other.

In 2000, another tiger mauling in the same zoo lead to the death of another visitor.

Tuesday’s incident sparked a controversy regarding the security lapses in the zoo, especially around the tiger enclosure.

It was not clear how the man fell into the enclosure. Media reported some witnesses as saying that some said he was sitting on the enclosure, some others said the barricade was too low and he fell in, while others said they saw the boy leaning over to take a picture of the tiger and falling into the enclosure.

But they claimed that no security personnel were present during the incident.

Media quoted guards as saying that, they were not equipped to save the man as they don’t have tranquilizer guns, they didn't have walkie-talkies either;

The zoo administration has of course rubbished all allegations on security lapses.

"The boy seems to have leapt over the railing into the tiger enclosure. It was a white tiger that attacked," 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," he said.

Police rushed to the spot police and started investigating the matter.

The zoo has been evacuated and no more tourists are being allowed inside the zoo.

The identity of the victim has still not been established.