'People seem to care more about the tiger': Resident blasts reaction after man mauled to death at zoo
Yorkshire Wildlife Park has closed for the third day after the attack on a man who jumped into the enclosure on Saturday
A man was mauled to death by Altai (pictured), a Siberian tiger, after climbing into the big cat's enclosure.
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Yorkshire Wildlife Park
A woman who lives near the wildlife park where a man was mauled to death has accused people for caring "more about the tiger". Yorkshire Wildlife Park has closed for the third day after the attack on a man who jumped into the tiger enclosure on Saturday.Angela Seivewright, who lives near the Doncaster zoo, said she found the reaction to the fatal incident "really upsetting".She said she had previously seen adults with special needs in the park with carers who appeared to be “a bit distracted”.Ms Seivewright said: “I believe that the person who was killed had additional needs.Read more: Tiger that killed zoo intruder is rare species that arrived from Norway last yearRead more: Man mauled to death after 'jumping into' tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park
Angela Seivewright, who lives near the Doncaster zoo, said she found the reaction to the fatal incident "really upsetting". (File photo).
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Tierfotoagentur/Alamy
“And, when I looked at social media over the weekend, when I said I hoped the person was OK, I got really bullied a lot – saying that he deserved to die.”“I have a special needs child and I think he was doing sign language to the tiger.“So, it just felt it was really unfair that people were almost wishing him to die as opposed to not wanting anybody to be hurt.“So it was really upsetting. My daughter goes to school next door and we live around the corner. And I just thought there would be way more flowers here.”
The Doncaster attraction remained closed on Monday as investigations continue into the death of the man, who was attacked by a tiger when he entered its enclosure on Saturday.
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PA Images/Alamy
Ms Seivewright said she had a season ticket to the park, but added: “I don’t know if I would support them again.“I just don’t know if they took every opportunity to save him, his life, as opposed to maybe doing something to the tiger.“I think it’s a bit of an indictment on the community in terms that people seem to care more about the tiger.“It just feels a bit sad that his death is not mourned more.”
Ms Seivewright said: “It just seems that making additional needs a priority – it’s a bit of a tick-box exercise.“What mitigations did they have in place if they saw somebody with additional needs on his own near a dangerous animal?”“Without wishing things bad on the tiger, in my mind, a human is a sentient being. I love cats. I’ve got five of them. And I love animals.“But I would have thought people would have been more compassionate with somebody dying in such an awful way who lacks capacity and who is vulnerable.”
The Doncaster attraction remained closed on Monday as investigations continue into the death of the man, who was attacked by a tiger when he entered its enclosure on Saturday.South Yorkshire Police will not be naming the man at the request of his family, the Press Association understands.Councillor Steve Cox, who represents the Finningley ward covering the wildlife park, told the Press Association: “I really feel for the staff, they’ve got protocols they have to go through.“It’s really sad, but I’m sure everybody did what they could.”
Doncaster’s deputy civic mayor Councillor Nick Allen, who represents a nearby ward, said: “We don’t know all the circumstances yet and the speculation online is obviously upsetting and unneeded.”He said he had been “really shocked about the tragic incident”.Emergency services were contacted shortly after 1.30pm on October 10 when the man entered the enclosure.He was pronounced dead at the scene, South Yorkshire Police said, adding that his family have been informed.
In a previous statement on social media, the wildlife park said “many, many people” had contacted them about Altai, the Amur tiger involved in the incident, and it confirmed he is “safe and well” and will not be euthanised.It added that members of park staff were “deeply affected” by the incident and receiving specialist support.
