Man 'seen praying and speaking strange language' before jumping 15ft into tiger enclosure

Man 'seen praying and speaking strange language' before jumping 15ft into tiger enclosure A couple described the moment they saw the man vault into Altai the tiger's enclosure and start strangely praying with his arms open before the big cat pounced on him on Saturday The man killed by a tiger at Yorkshire Zoo was praying and speaking a strange language before he jumped 15 feet into the big cat's enclosure, bystanders have claimed. The zoo was closed on Sunday, and will remain closed today, it said, after the unnamed man climbed into the enclosure of an Amur tiger named Altai, and was mauled to death. He had entered from a walkway overseeing the animal after "pacing around" nearby and acting strangely, a couple who watched the distressing incident unfold have said. The pair said they had encountered the man, who they said was "very out of place" and initially believed may have had special needs, before watching him clamber to his death. Anthony Hunt, 22, a university graduate and his pharmacy worker partner Scarlet Hogan, 21, first encountered the man when they parked at the wildlife park on Saturday. The couple from Goole in East Yorkshire were anticipating a fun day out, but left baffled by the man, who they saw "walking very fast, dancing" with a pair of AirPods. Mr Hunt said: “We saw him again, flying past the back of our car, fast walking. We thought he might have special needs. So we forgot about it." The two then entered the zoo and toured a few different animals before visiting its two resident tigers, who are housed in separate enclosures. They said that there, they happened upon the same man, who was still by himself and "dancing with his phone out by the canopy". Mr Hunt added: “He was just very out of place. We we just walked past him. Both tigers were on the wooden platform." Ms Hogan added that, as the zoo crowd was excitedly taking pictures of the tigers, the couple saw "a man dancing" before getting out his phone. She said: "Then he got his phone out like he was taking selfie. He got on the floor and started to pray." The couple believe he stood on the canopy's wooden railing before launching himself over, and said a member of the public had tried, unsuccessfully, to drag him back to safety. When he dropped into the enclosure, Mr Hunt said, he started "praying and bowing down" to the big cat. He said: “It looked like a performance. He got down where everyone could see him in the main viewing Area. He was on all fours, praying and bowing down to the tiger. It was like he was waiting for the tiger. “He had his arms wide open like he was saying: “Come here tiger. Kill me’. Then the tiger came and started to attack him. “He started to fight back and screamed. It was like he was just detached from reality. He was praying with open arms. He started to fight back when the tiger attacked. The last thing we saw was the tiger was on his neck. He would not be able to make that jump if he was special needs." "You have to get over a fence before you get to the canopy.” Ms Hogan said: “It is very bizarre and weird. He was speaking in a different language while he was praying. “There was only a few other people there. It was like religious related.” Anthony said: “The next thing was we heard gun shots. The zoo keeper was shooting the floor to scare off the tiger. When we spoke to police we were told the man had passed away at the scene. “It was the strangest thing we have every seen. He was acting so odd and strange. It was like he was suicidal.” The pair described the man as around 23, tall, wearing a pair of jogging bottoms and a jumper. “He was waiting for the tiger to attack. He had his arms wide open. It is not something you expect. He walked in very nonchalantly. When he got down on all fours, onlookers say he was saying things they believed to be religious. Then the tiger latched onto his neck. It was very weird.”