William Chapman has been identified as the young man killed Saturday after entering the tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in northern England, British media reported Tuesday.
According to The Telegraph, Chapman posted a selfie from a gym on the day of his death. He also shared a photograph of himself posing with a Bible and a bow and arrow, wearing the same tracksuit he later wore when he jumped into the tiger enclosure.
The newspaper also reported that Chapman uploaded a video of the animal just minutes before the fatal attack. In the short clip, he can be heard breathing heavily before the recording abruptly ends.
The Instagram video, which The Telegraph said appeared to have been filmed from inside the enclosure, shows Chapman's point of view as he slowly approaches the tiger, which is watching him from an elevated wooden platform.
Visitors can be heard exclaiming "Oh my God" in the background as Chapman approaches the animal, shortly before the deadly encounter. The BBC reported that Chapman's Instagram account had since been removed.
Chapman, who witnesses said was in his 20s, entered the enclosure after descending from an elevated walkway. Witnesses to the attack said several people tried unsuccessfully to distract the Siberian tiger as it attacked him.
(Photo: Private album)
Footage purportedly showing the incident
The animal involved was Altai, a Siberian tiger belonging to an endangered subspecies. Wildlife park officials confirmed earlier this week that Altai would not be euthanized following the tragedy, adding that the tiger was "safe and well."
A video circulated on social media Saturday appeared to show the man as Altai circled him before striking him on the back with a paw and violently shaking him as though he were a rag doll.
During the attack, the man appeared to attempt to scold the tiger by clenching his fist and moving his little finger. The gesture prompted speculation that he was trying to communicate with the animal using Makaton.
Altai
(Photo: Yorkshire Wildlife Park)
Makaton is a distinctive communication system, different from sign language, that combines hand gestures, pictures and speech. It is often used by people who have difficulty expressing themselves.
Users on X quickly pointed to the possible meaning of the gesture. One wrote that the man was "using Makaton here, pointing with his little finger while holding his hand in a fist, to say 'bad.'"
Yorkshire Wildlife Park opened in 2009, while its "Land of the Tigers" enclosure opened in 2011. The park is home to two Siberian tigers: a female named Tschuna and Altai, who arrived in February 2025 from Dyreparken Zoo in Norway, where he was born. Siberian tigers are endangered, with an estimated 500 remaining in the wild.