Man has jumped into Tiger enclosure

[PrincessHoneysuckle]

At Yorkshire wildlife park.Anyone seen the video? I live local to it and the video of the man wagging his finger at it telling it no like a toddler is shocking.Hes lucky he wasnt killed.

I would have thought a regulation 28 (prevention of future deaths ) will recommend visitor viewing areas are fully enclosed.

A fully enclosed viewing area for visitors would not affect the animals.

The issue of whether animals should/should not be held captive is a separate issue. There's no benefit to the animals from being a visitor attraction but it funds the conservation aspect.

They are not businesses run as tourist attractions.

Facebook post from someone who was there. Gosh those poor people.

It's legally correct in the UK.

Capacity to consent, understand consequences, vulnerability are separate & complex issues.

An adult is an adult & not a child in the eyes of the law.

@danniT2 Last night, I called the deceased an idiot for doing what he did. I won't repeat the offensive word I used, but my opinion has not altered one whit. The victim should not have been allowed out alone, for his own safety.

I'm no coward, and I stand by my posts, and defend my views, even when they offend some people.

The deceased died because he climbed into the tiger's pen.

So this can only happen if someone dies? I'm just thinking that no changes had to be made with the crocodile enclosure after the incident a few months ago.

Next thing you'll hear, they'll be telling beaches to fence off the sea.

However during discussions on the crocodile thread one poster cited the example of how you wouldn’t hold a toddler accountable for pushing another, and posited that the same logic should apply to the ‘crocodile thrower’. Seems like a clamour for rights without the corollary of responsibilities .

There will almost certainly be a recommendation to fully enclose visitor viewing areas.

The deceased died because he climbed into the tiger's pen.

Nothing gets past you eh?

As another person who has often visited YWP I was surprised that anyone could get in without seriously injuring themselves before the tiger entered the equation.

I haven’t read the full thread but want to add that I live close enough to hear the lions/gibbons/sealions. I can see the polar bears from my bedroom window. I heard the gun shots (canester shots) yesterday. We are a small village and this incident has impacted the whole community. Our thoughts are with the family of the deceased and with the staff and visitors yesterday… I’m so pleased the tiger isn’t going to be euthanised. My heart is breaking for the young man - it’s still not clear if he was alone or with carers. YWP do a fantastic job and I’m proud to call them my neighbours.

Perhaps he did injure himself getting in? The video that came up on my feed showed him sitting down and making no attempt to stand.

The man was using makaton. Imagine not understanding that the tiger is going to hurt you or doesn't understand that you won't hurt it. Imagine that your communication level is such that you you use Makaton to tell a tiger to stop.

This man had clearly been taught Makaton (a SEN communication system) which indicates that he has SEN to an extent that resources had been used to teach him.

Why had he been out without carers? Had he been assessed as needing PA's/ carers (clearly he did need them) of he was out on his own?

He had been failed- I think with all the cuts we will see more of people like this being failed maybe/ hopefully not the same circs but failed in diff circs. It's incredibly sad. Adult social care being left out of AB's social care reforms isn't going to help. These people aren't able to advocate for themselves and their families if they still have them are exhausted upon exhausted.

Bigger questions about social care need to be asked. Vulnerable people are being let down.

Sadly the poster can't even get that right. Widely reported that the poor man jumped.

And your point is?

He was also dancing excitedly beforehand apparently..again not typical behaviour of an adult in public, so with all of the information we have so far, plus the fact he climbed into a tiger enclosure I'm guessing he had severe learning difficulties.

I really hope you are wrong that areas will be made fully enclosed and I suspect you will be.

Yorkshire Wildlife Park has been in existence for quite a few years and, to my knowledge, this is the first incident and I really doubt there will be massive changes just because of one incident no matter how sad or awful it was.

The park is perfectly safe as long as people abide by the rules of not climbing or jumping into a wild animal's enclosure

I've heard a few witnesses say that he jumped from the bridge/walkway viewing area and then crawled to the tiger. If that's correct, maybe he did hurt himself which is why he crawled and didn't walk to the tiger.

I don’t think we can really say if he made the choice in the true sense until more facts are known. If he does indeed have LD, legally he may not be considered to have made a choice and those saying he did are not just morally lacking but legally ignorant.

Eyewitnesses mentioned that right before he jumped the barrier, he was listening to music, dancing, and happily watching the animals. Some people at the scene noted he seemed to think he "just wanted to play with the tiger."
This is where the Mental Capacity Act 2005 comes in. Under Section 3 of the Act, a person legally lacks the capacity to make a decision if they cannot understand, retain, or weigh up the relevant information.
To make a true legal choice to enter that enclosure, he would have needed to process the information that a tiger is a lethal apex predator and weigh the immediate risk of death. If his learning disability or autism meant he genuinely believed he was entering a safe space to play with a large pet, the law states he did not have the capacity to make that choice, because he couldn't comprehend the reality of what he was doing.

You can't keep everyone locked up "just in case" they one day act irrationally though, can you? There has to be some sort of risk assessment process and sometimes decisions will be made that were, in retrospect, the wrong ones. A bit like with criminals and probation.

Apparently he also verbally asked someone to take a picture of him with the tiger behind him shortly before he jumped in. He also thanked them afterwards.

Exactly!