Posted: April 7 2008 2 a.m. EDT
 |
| A mentally ill man was killed by a tiger after he wandered into the cat's enclosure at Beifang Forest Zoo. |
Zhang Yachun, a 37-year-old mentally ill man living in Pingshan Township, Heilongjiang Province, China, was eaten by a tiger at Beifang Forest Zoo in Harbin, Reuters reports.
Zhang left his home in Harbin on March 24. Zoo cleaning staff found human remains in the tiger and lion enclosure around 8:40 a.m. on March 25. A report by the China news service said, “only two legs and his skull were left.”
A search of the lion and tiger exhibit revealed no damage to the fence. Zoo officials are uncertain how Zhang accessed the enclosure.
On March 29, police informed Zhang’s parents that he had entered the tiger’s cage at the zoo, about 30 km from their home, and had been eaten. The man’s parents said their son had left for work about 7 a.m. on March 24. Zhang suffered from mental illness, they said, and “especially loved tigers.”
This is the most recent incident of injury or death caused by zoo or circus animals in China. In February, a 10-year-old boy lost his arm to a circus lion that grabbed the boy through the bars of its cage. Last year, a 6-year-old girl was killed when a zoo tiger attacked her while she waited to have her picture taken with the animal.