Helpless wife, kids watched in horror as three tigers maul man to death

In hindsight look at the man who smartly darted to pay a ￡15 ticket and jumped over the park fence only to fall directly into the tigers pit

A father was mauled to death by three tigers at the Ningbo Younger Zoo in Zhejiang province, China. Zhang, the victim, had jumped into the tigers' enclosure to avoid paying the entrance fee.

Zhang, who's in his 40s, had darted paying for a ￡15 ticket by jumping over the park fence directly into the tiger pit yesterday. Accompanied by a pal, both scaled the three metre wall only to be mauled to death by the tigers.

Both victims were pictured on top of the barrier moments before the bloody attack. One of the them was mauled to death by three tigers soon after.

The relentless attack lasted for more than an hour with the beasts toying with their prey. Following a lengthy rescue attempt the man was pronounced dead at hospital.

The second man, who was about to follow Zhang into the enclosure, held back after watching the horror unfold before him.

Zhang’s wife and two children watched on in horror as the big cats attacked him. The dreaded footage showed Zhang being mauled on the head and neck by the tiger as onlookers screamed.

Zhang died in hospital soon after.

The killer tiger was later shot dead and the other two big cats scared away with flares guns. At one point in the shocking clip Zhang unsuccessfully tried to fend off one of the tigers with his foot.