The former child actor who was fatally mauled by a Siberian tiger at an English zoo had struggled with serious mental-health problems, his “utterly devastated” family said Tuesday.
William Chapman’s family broke its silence three days after his horrific death at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, urging authorities to establish why the 23-year-old entered the tiger enclosure.
“The family are utterly devastated by their loss and are struggling to come to terms with what has happened,” the family said in a statement to The Independent.
“William suffered from significant mental illness over a number of years and was consequently prescribed strong medication,” they said.
“The family are hopeful that the relevant authorities will do their utmost to get to the bottom of why our amazing son did what he did,” the statement continued.
Loved ones remembered Chapman as “a bright, warm and engaging young man whom his family dearly loved – and William loved them back.”
Minutes before his death on Saturday, Chapman posted a video to Instagram showing him approaching Altai, a 420-pound Siberian tiger, after entering the animal’s enclosure.
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Witnesses said Chapman had been “pacing around with his headphones in” and “happily dancing” before asking fellow visitors to take a photograph of him with the tiger visible in the background.
Altai dragged Chapman into a wooded section of the enclosure and killed him.
First responders pronounced him dead at the scene.
According to The Sun, Chapman had appeared alongside stars from the “Harry Potter” films when he was a child.
After the fatal tiger attack, zoo staff put up a black screen around the enclosure and closed Yorkshire Wildlife Park for the remainder of the weekend.
“We are working closely with the authorities to ascertain exactly what happened. The safety and wellbeing of our visitors, staff and animals remain our highest priority,” Yorkshire Wildlife Park said in a statement.
Carole Baskin, the star of “Tiger King,” said the tiger “was not doing anything wrong.”
“The tiger was not doing anything wrong by being a tiger. I am relieved to hear that the animal was not harmed,” Baskin told The Post in a written statement.
