How William Chapman Got Into a Tiger Enclosure Before He Was Mauled

The former child actor who was fatally mauled by a tiger at an English wildlife park climbed over two fences to enter the animal’s enclosure, coroners said.

At a Thursday hearing into William Chapman’s death, the coroner said he “climbed two fences and entered the tiger enclosure” before approaching the tiger and suffering multiple traumatic injuries, Yorkshire Live reported.

The coroner said Chapman sustained the fatal injuries after an interaction with the tiger.

Chapman, who reportedly had schizophrenia, was attacked in front of visitors at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday in a horrific incident captured on camera.

The 24-year-old former actor had posted a video on Instagram shortly before the attack showing him walking toward Altai, a 420-pound Siberian tiger.

He was pronounced dead at the scene. His provisional cause of death was later recorded as multiple traumatic injuries resulting from an interaction with an animal.

Chapman’s family told the coroner that he had “a history of mental illness” and a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and had been receiving care from mental health services.

Witnesses said Chapman was initially seen “pacing around with his headphones in” and “happily dancing.” He later asked other visitors to take a photograph of him with the tiger visible behind him.

As a child, Chapman appeared in the 2009 British miniseries “May Contain Nuts” and BBC Learning’s “True Stories” series.

The five-year-old Siberian tiger was confined by wildlife park staff after the attack. Park officials said it will not be euthanized.

Social media posts show that William Chapman spent the final hours before his death at a Yorkshire zoo visiting the gym and posing with a crossbow before making the journey that ended in tragedy.

Chapman, 24, had been classed as vulnerable and had a history of “significant” mental health problems. On Saturday afternoon, he entered the tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, near Doncaster.

The former child star was seen dancing to music through his headphones and pacing along a walkway shortly before climbing into the enclosure. Visitors described him as appearing “not attached to reality”.

Footage recorded by Chapman appears to show him slowly moving towards one of the park’s two rare Amur tigers. The five-year-old male tiger was named Altai.

Witnesses said the big cat pawed at Chapman before clamping its jaws around his neck minutes later.

Emergency services were called to the park at 1.35pm, but Chapman was pronounced dead. An inquest into his death is due to open at Doncaster Coroner’s Court on Thursday morning.

John Minion, a friend of the park’s owner, said he had been left “devastated” by the incident and was “first on the scene”.

After this newspaper identified Chapman on Tuesday, his family said they were heartbroken by the loss of their “amazing son”. They described him as “a bright, warm and engaging young man whom his family dearly loved – and William loved them back”.

The family said Chapman had been prescribed “strong medication” for his poor mental health, adding that “it will be for the coroner to decide what part this played in his death”.

A now-deleted Instagram account offers an insight into how Chapman spent the day before visitors made desperate attempts to save him.

Images uploaded on the day of his death showed Chapman at a gym and inside a flat in Doncaster, where he posed with a crossbow.

The first image showed Chapman outside a convenience store holding a can of Jack Daniel’s mixed with Coca-Cola Zero.

A second picture featured a soldier figurine alongside the words “SAS”, a heart emoji and the flag of Uganda.

In the hours before the incident at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, the former child actor shared photographs of the property where he was staying, tagging the location as “Doncaster”. One image showed a replica of an ancient Greek war helmet resting on his pillow.

Another photograph showed a living room and sofa, with Chapman’s shoes and grey tracksuit bottoms visible in the frame.

A crossbow and several darts could be seen in one corner, alongside two backpacks, a computer monitor and laundry. The image appeared to have been taken overnight or during the early hours, with darkness visible outside.

The account suggests Mr Chapman later spent time at a swimming pool and the gym in the hours before his death: a selfie taken in blue swimming trunks – which can also be seen in the same laundry in his living room – shows him wearing a blue wristband.

He is then seen posing at the gym in grey tracksuit bottoms and a black sweater, the same outfit he would be seen wearing at the wildlife park hours later.

A final photograph, thought to be one of the last taken of Mr Chapman, shows him sitting on a kitchen worktop while posing with a copy of the Bible in one hand and a crossbow across his lap.

A crossbow dart is between his teeth, and tape emblazoned with the words ‘150lb Recurve Crossbow’ appears to be stuck to the cupboard beneath him.

In the background, a card featuring the word ‘Grandson’ is on display. The card, matched by the Mail to one sold by Amazon, wishes him a happy birthday, adding the message: ‘Believe there’s nothing you can’t do, there’s only one amazing you.’

Other images from his social media, posted around the same time, may have been taken earlier. These include a photo of Mr Chapman dressed all in grey outside the Pantheon in Paris, an image possibly alluding to a famous German influencer, and a picture seemingly taken outside a church.

It’s unknown exactly when Mr Chapman arrived at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, but it appears to be in the hours after these final photographs were taken.

Guests at the park described how, after arriving at the Land of the Tigers attraction, he danced up and down the 300m walkway above the enclosure where Amur tigers Altai and Tschuna live, listening to music on his AirPods.

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Park visitor Del Taylor yesterday described how Mr Chapman had approached her while on the walkway and asked her to take photos of him with one of the tigers in the background.

‘He was so happy,’ she said in a since-deleted TikTok video in which she appealed for cruel trolls to stop making jokes about the tragedy. ‘And then he’s come and placed himself next to us and he’s passed me his phone, and he’s asked me for his photo, and if you’d have seen him, without saying too much, you would understand why I’m saying what I’m saying.’

A video clip caught the moment, which took place just before he entered the enclosure.

Mr Chapman can be heard saying: ‘Excuse me, can you grab a shot of myself with the tiger?’ while Altai lies in the background under a shaded tree, playing with a fallen branch.

A woman, believed to be Ms Taylor, agrees and takes a photo, before he asks three times for ‘one more’ picture and then says: ‘Thank you, lady.’

Just moments later, Mr Chapman then began climbing over the walkway in a bid to enter the pen.

A heroic older woman desperately tried to pull the 24-year-old back down, but witnesses said she simply ‘wasn’t strong enough’.

Mr Chapman then jumped into the enclosure below.

A final video clip shared on Instagram just minutes before emergency services were scrambled to the scene showed him filming tiger Altai, who was resting on a wooden raised platform within the enclosure, as he slowly walked towards him.

In the background, he can be heard breathing heavily as shocked onlookers cry out ‘oh my God’.

When the tiger attacked, Mr Chapman, a former pupil of the Jackie Palmer Stage School in High Wycombe, screamed ‘stop’ several times and appeared to make a gesture for ‘bad’ in Makaton – a language system generally used by individuals who struggle to communicate. He also told the 200kg cat to ‘stop being naughty’.

Distressing footage shows how Altai appeared to paw at and toy with Mr Chapman, who was seen sitting and lying on the ground of the enclosure.

Witnesses said the tiger then jumped on to Mr Chapman’s neck.

Visitors were rapidly evacuated and emergency services, including an air ambulance, rushed to the scene, but Mr Chapman was confirmed to have died.

A friend of Mr Minion, who is a director at the attraction along with his wife Kate, said yesterday: ‘He is obviously devastated and was first at the scene. My heart goes out to him.’

Zookeepers were said to have done ‘everything they could’ to drive tiger Altai off, firing five loud acoustic gun blasts in attempts to scare him.

Two ambulances and a helicopter rushed to the park at 1.35pm, with a ‘black screen’ erected around the enclosure as lifesaving treatment was attempted.

In a statement released last night, Mr Chapman’s family said they are ‘utterly devastated by their loss and are struggling to come to terms with what has happened.

‘The publication and circulation of deeply offensive media content is causing them severe distress at an exceptionally vulnerable time. We ask people to stop doing this.

‘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.’

As well as being mocked by trolls online, footage of the attack was also posted by US President Donald Trump last night, who wrote: ‘Don’t ever mess with nature!’

On Wednesday morning, he also shared an AI-generated video of himself wrestling with and ultimately embracing the tiger, while The Lion Sleeps Tonight plays in the background.

Mr Chapman’s family added: ‘William was a bright, warm and engaging young man whom his family dearly loved – and William loved them back.

‘Sadly, William suffered from significant mental illness over a number of years and was consequently prescribed strong medication.

‘It will be for the coroner to decide what part this played in his death. We would ask everybody to respect that process.’

Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which remains closed, confirmed that Altai will not be euthanised in the wake of the incident.

The licensing authority for Yorkshire Wildlife Park, City of Doncaster Council, has now launched a health and safety investigation into the man’s death.

Dan Swaine, executive director of place at City of Doncaster Council, said: ‘As the relevant licensing authority for the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, I can confirm that, in line with our statutory duties, the council has launched a health and safety investigation.

‘We are also working with multiple agencies, including the police and health agencies, and are supporting the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in response to the incident.

‘At this time, we won’t be commenting further on the individual or the investigation and we ask that the privacy of those involved is respected at this difficult time.’

As a child, Mr Chapman appeared in the ITV production May Contain Nuts alongside Shirley Henderson and Darren Boyd.

He also played Edward Jenner in the BBC series True Stories.