US President Donald Trump shared disturbing footage on Tuesday showing a man being killed by a tiger at a British wildlife park, drawing criticism on social media.
The 41-second video shows the attack that happened on Saturday at Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster in northern England. Trump posted the clip on his Truth Social account with the caption “Don’t ever mess with nature!”
What happened at the park
William Chapman (23) was visiting the park alone on Saturday when emergency services were called shortly after 13:30 after he entered the tiger enclosure.
According to reports, Chapman was wearing headphones and dancing before he climbed onto the barriers. He then entered the enclosure and laid in front of the tiger.
The tiger, a male Amur tiger named Altai, attacked him. Chapman was pronounced dead at the scene despite efforts by medical staff.
The park was then evacuated. Yorkshire Wildlife Park said Altai was safe and well and would not be put down.
Chapman’s family described him as “a bright, warm and engaging young man”. They said he had experienced significant mental illness for several years and had been prescribed strong medication, adding that it would be for the coroner to determine whether this played any part in his death.
The family condemned the circulation of “deeply offensive media content” that was causing them severe distress and asked people to stop sharing it.
White House response
The White House’s Rapid Response 47 account, which has 2.3 million followers on X, later shared the same video of the fatal attack.
When asked for comment, the White House referred reporters back to Trump’s Truth Social posts.
Trump then posted another video featuring what appeared to be AI-generated images of people being attacked by big cats, set to synthesizer music.
Later on Tuesday, Trump posted a third video showing AI-generated footage of himself wrestling and befriending a smiling tiger while “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” played.
Users on X questioned the president’s decision to share the content. One person called the post “sick” while another supporter wrote: “I’m a big supporter but not a fan of this post. To each his own.”
Critics called the posts “disgusting” and “disgraceful”.
The park’s Land of the Tigers exhibit features a 300-metre raised walkway where visitors can view Amur tigers in an enclosure that includes woodland, grassland and a waterfall pool.
Around 500 of the endangered Amur tiger subspecies remain in the wild.
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