The man killed by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster has been identified as William Chapman, the BBC understands.
Chapman entered the enclosure at the park shortly after 13:30 BST on Saturday and was pronounced dead at the scene, South Yorkshire Police confirmed.
An eyewitness described seeing him wearing headphones and pacing around near the enclosure before he went in. Police confirmed he was visiting the park on his own.
A force spokesperson said his family was aware and was being supported by specialist officers. The park was evacuated after the incident and remains closed as investigations continue.
City of Doncaster Council has also launched a health and safety investigation into the death, which a spokesperson said was in line with its statutory duties.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park said its thoughts and heartfelt sympathies were with the man’s family and confirmed the rare Amur tiger, called Altai, remained in the enclosure and would not be euthanised.
Chapman was described by eyewitnesses as in his 20s and was reported to have entered the enclosure after climbing down from a walkway.
Those who saw the attack said some witnesses had tried unsuccessfully to distract the tiger.
A video posted on a social media account believed to be Chapman’s appears to show the moments before the attack.
In the footage, shot on a mobile phone, the inside of the enclosure can be seen as he approaches the tiger perched on a wooden platform across a patch of grass. Shouts of concern, urging him to get out, can be heard. The video ends, and the account has now been removed.
Ella Ford, 24, from Moreton, Wirral, had visited the park with her boyfriend and filmed the tiger moments before the attack.
She described seeing Chapman by the tiger enclosure pacing around with his headphones in. A few minutes later, she saw he had climbed up onto the barriers.
A woman was close by talking to him, she said, before he jumped in and crawled in front of the tiger, where the tiger was perched and just lay there. Ford said she then witnessed the tiger grab hold of him, and he was shouting for help.
She estimates around 15 to 20 people were on the enclosure’s raised visitor walkway before staff quickly evacuated the area, and shortly afterwards, the park.
Karmelle Pelham, 39, from Worksop, had been enjoying a family day out when park staff told them the site was being evacuated.
She said she had heard what sounded like gunshots and an air ambulance had circled above. Pelham added there was a big, black tarpaulin over the tiger enclosure.
She praised park staff for their handling of the incident, saying it had been very well organised.
A spokesperson for the Born Free Foundation, which campaigns to phase out zoos, called for an urgent review into how the man managed to enter the enclosure and what happened next.
Dr Campbell Murn, a previous member of the government’s zoo expert committee and lecturer at the University of Reading, said while it was a tragic incident, determined people could get inside zoo enclosures.
He said he viewed it in the same way a determined thief will get into somebody’s house or somebody’s car and despite the best security systems and enclosures sometimes these things happen.
Floral tributes have been left at the entrance to the park, near Doncaster.
Police said the public should not share a distressing video of the incident.
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