Inquest opens into death of William Chapman, killed by tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Centre · 2An inquest opening at Doncaster Coroner's Court on Thursday 15 October heard that William Chapman, 24, was killed by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, near Doncaster, on Saturday 10 October. 1 2 Centre · 2The hearing was told he went to the park, and at about 1.30pm climbed over two fences and entered the tiger enclosure. 1 2 Centre · 1Coroner's officer Caitlin Brookes said the tiger approached him and the ensuing physical contact caused multiple traumatic injuries that rapidly led to his death; park staff secured the tiger and paramedics confirmed death at the scene. 1

Centre · 2An initial post-mortem examination found he died from multiple traumatic injuries, and the hearing was told the cause was "multiple traumatic injuries and animal interaction"; a more substantial report on the injuries is awaited. 2 1 Centre · 2The inquest heard Chapman had a history of mental illness, a diagnosis of schizophrenia and previous bouts of psychosis. He was under adult mental health services in Doncaster but was described as "highly functioning and independent with no care requirements". 2 1 Centre · 2His family expressed "a number of concerns" about his contact with mental health services, and the Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust has launched an investigation. 1 2

Centre · 1The inquest heard he was a self-employed online trader living in Doncaster, born in 2002 in Chichester, and that his stepfather identified him on 13 October. His family did not attend the hearing and will be updated afterwards. 1 Centre · 1City of Doncaster Council, which licenses the park, is carrying out a health and safety investigation and will share the outcome with the coroner. The full inquest is scheduled for 18 March next year. 1 Centre · 2The park remains closed with no reopening date confirmed. It has said the Amur tiger, Altai, is "safe and well" and will not be euthanised. 2 1

Right · 1A visitor, Ella Ford, 24, told the Liverpool Echo she saw Chapman pacing on the elevated walkway wearing headphones and appearing "happy", then climb a wooden fence and enter the enclosure. She said her partner saw him take out his phone and move closer to the tiger, and that a man banged on the fence to try to scare the animal off. 3 Right · 1In a statement on Tuesday his family described him as a "bright, warm and engaging young man" who had suffered "significant mental illness" for years and was on "strong medication". 3 Mixed · 2The family's statement came after US President Donald Trump shared a video of the attack with his 13 million Truth Social followers on Tuesday, followed by an AI-generated video of himself play fighting with the tiger; the family called online footage "deeply offensive" and said it was causing them "severe distress". 4 5

Mixed · 2As a child Chapman appeared in ITV's 2009 comedy drama May Contain Nuts and in BBC Learning's True Stories series, according to IMDb, and attended the Jackie Palmer stage school in High Wycombe, which paid tribute on Facebook. 4 5 Mixed · 2The Guardian described Altai as a 200kg male Siberian tiger and reported that wildlife and zoo experts had told it the park was unlikely to have been able to prevent the death; other outlets call Altai an Amur tiger. The Daily Express gave Chapman's age as 23 while the inquest account and other outlets say 24. 4 6 Right · 1The Daily Express reported that footage, which appeared to have been filmed by Chapman himself, showed him breathing heavily as he approached the enclosure while onlookers said "Oh my God"; it also reported, citing earlier accounts, that he asked a visitor to photograph him with the tiger behind him and dropped about 12 feet into the enclosure, shouting "no, no, no" as the tiger circled him. 6