A TIGER mauled a man to death in front of horrified families after he entered its zoo enclosure.

It is thought he leapt from a viewing platform before big cat Altai dragged him away at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday.

A terrified mum has told how she saw a pool of blood after a tiger dragged away a zoo visitor.

Chilling footage captured him yelling “No, no, no!” and “Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!” as the five-year-old big cat repeatedly lunged for him in front of families with children.

Another visitor twice shouted “Hey!” in a bid to distract the beast.

But it clamped its mouth around the man’s neck and hauled him away.

Moments later rangers fired two warning shots from a shotgun to scare the tiger away.

Altai, who arrived at the park from Norway last February, retreated to his pen and was quickly secured.

But the man was pronounced dead at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Branton near Doncaster.

He has not yet been identified and it is not known why he entered the enclosure.

A witness claimed the man, who had a mobile phone and was wearing Apple Airpods, appeared to “psyche himself up” by doing a “dance” in the spectator area before entering the enclosure.

Other zoogoers are believed to have tried to stop the man from clambering into the enclosure, with one woman heard on the mauling video saying: “I tried to stop him.”

Midwife Amy Wright, 36, was at the park with her husband and two children, aged six and three.

She said: “You could see the blood where the tiger had dragged the man. Someone who saw it said it had him by the neck.

“There was a lot of blood. People were shouting to try and distract it.

“We heard the gunshots.

There were two, one after the other in quick succession. We headed for the exit but to get there you have to pass the tigers’ enclosure.”

Black screens were put up around the visitors’ path to prevent people from seeing the grisly scene as the park was evacuated.

Amy, of Wakefield, West Yorks, added: “There were three police officers at the enclosure entrance. They were standing close to three female keepers sitting on the floor. One had her head in her hands.”

Tia Hanson and a friend were at the scene when the walkway between the tiger enclosure and the exit was closed.

She said: “When you’re leaving you have to walk past the tiger enclosure and they’ve put up all sort of black tarpaulin so you couldn’t really see.

But there were loads of police and ambulance people and a stretcher in the enclosure as well.

“It wasn’t nice. There were lots of people who looked really upset.”

Police and paramedics raced to the park shortly after the alarm was raised at 1.35pm.

An air ambulance was spotted circling before landing close to the “Land of the Tigers” enclosure.

It is surrounded by a five-metre-high fence. A viewing platform sat atop the fence at one corner has a metre-high “stand-off” fence, which it is thought the man climbed over.

South Yorkshire Police said: “At 1.35pm on Saturday we received reports of a man entering a tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. The tiger subsequently attacked the man.

“Emergency services attended and sadly, despite the best efforts of medical personnel, the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

“The man’s family is aware and is being supported by specialist officers.

Our thoughts are with them at this distressing time.”

A spokesman confirmed the tiger was unharmed and there was no wider risk to the public. The animal is not set to be put down. The spokesman added: “Following the incident, Yorkshire Wildlife Park was evacuated and officers remain on scene carrying out inquiries.

“We are aware of videos circulating online and would encourage people not to share this footage.”

Altai was born in Norwegian zoo Dyreparken and arrived in Yorkshire aged three last February as part of the European Endangered Species Programme.

He was brought to the park to mate with their only other tiger, a female Siberian called Tschuna.

Their enclosure is set in two acres of reserve and contains woodlands and a waterfall pool.

Charlotte MacDonald, director of animals, said at the time of Altai’s arrival: “We are thrilled to welcome Altai.

He is a beautiful, huge cat and very calm and receptive.”

Altai’s previous keeper, Even Grønnerø, said: “Altai is a nice and calm tiger. He loves his training, eating and especially enjoys playing in the water outside.”

Yorkshire Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 13.33 to an incident at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster. We sent a number of resources, including two land ambulances, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and a doctor.”

Yorkshire Wildlife Park posted a statement saying: “Our emergency response procedures were immediately activated.

“We are working closely with the authorities to ascertain exactly what happened. The safety and wellbeing of our visitors, staff and animals remain our highest priority.”

The wildlife park will remain closed today.