Yorkshire Wildlife Park Tiger Altai 'Will Not Be Euthanised' After Mauling Man to Death Inside Enclosure

Yorkshire Wildlife Park will not put down Altai, the Amur tiger that attacked a man inside his enclosure near Doncaster on Saturday. South Yorkshire Police said the man died at the scene. On Sunday, the park said Altai was 'safe and well and will not be euthanised as a result of this incident.'

Carole Baskin, the Tiger King star, wrote to the New York Post: 'The tiger was not doing anything wrong by being a tiger.' The park gave no reason for sparing Altai. He came in 2025 to breed under a European conservation plan. Police have not named the man or said how he reached Altai.

Saturday's Attack and the Park's Response

Officers received reports at 1:35 pm on Saturday 10 October that a man had entered the tiger enclosure. Yorkshire Ambulance Service sent two ambulances, an air ambulance, and a doctor to the park. One visitor told ITV News she heard what sounded like gunshots. Amid rumours about the tiger, the force said the animal was uninjured. Keepers then asked visitors to leave, and the park closed. Later that day, the park posted a Facebook statement, which appears below.

By early Monday, the park's Facebook statement had drawn about 1,300 reactions and 824 comments. That statement described the death as tragic. Altai stayed in the enclosure after the attack, and the force said nobody else was at risk. Videos of the incident spread online, and officers asked people not to share the footage. Specialist officers are helping the man's family. Yorkshire Wildlife Park asked for privacy for those affected.

Why the Park Brought Altai From Norway

Dyreparken, the Norwegian zoo that bred Altai, sent him to Doncaster on Thursday 27 February 2025, aged three. The European Endangered Species Programme, which pairs zoo cats across Europe to keep the species breeding, advised the move. The park hoped Altai would breed with Tschuna, a tigress at the park since 2013. Amur tigers are the biggest cats in the world, the park says, and males average 160kg to 190kg (352.7 lb to 418.8 lb).

The park cites a 2022 estimate from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a global group that tracks rare wildlife. That estimate put the Amur population at 265 to 486, after numbers once fell to about 50, the park says. Charlotte MacDonald was the park's director of animals in March 2025. She said she hoped Altai and Tschuna could 'contribute to global conservation efforts to protect this incredible species.'

What Happens Next for Altai and the Park

Yorkshire Wildlife Park remained closed on Sunday while staff received specialist support, and its website said it would reopen at 9:45 am on Monday 12 October. South Yorkshire Police kept a team at the scene that afternoon and have not said when they will finish their enquiries.

In December 2021, a deputy at Florida's Naples Zoo shot dead Eko, an eight-year-old Malayan tiger, as the tiger held a cleaner's arm. Officials said attempts to make Eko let go had failed. Britain's Hamerton Zoo Park spared Cicip, the tiger that killed keeper Rosa King, 33, in May 2017, with her parents' backing.