A man who was killed by a tiger at a South Yorkshire zoo had bouts of psychosis, his family told an inquest opening, as they expressed concerns about his contact with mental health services before his death. William Chapman was mauled to death by the animal at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster on Saturday, after climbing into its enclosure. The park has been closed since the attack but a spokesperson confirmed it would reopen on Friday, and thanked members of the public for “messages of support and love”.
The 24-year-old had been diagnosed with schizophrenia but was “highly functioning and independent with no care requirements”, the hearing at Doncaster coroner’s court heard. He was under the care of local mental health services, but the coroner’s officer Caitlin Brookes said his family had expressed “a number of concerns” in relation to his contact with them. Brookes said Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS foundation trust had launched an investigation after Chapman’s death.
The inquest heard Chapman was a self-employed online trader who was living in Doncaster at the time of his death. An initial postmortem found that he had died from multiple traumatic injuries after his encounter with the tiger. The inquest heard he attended Yorkshire Wildlife Park on 10 October, and, at about 1.30pm, climbed over two fences and entered the enclosure housing the 200kg male Siberian tiger named Altai.
Brookes said: “He was approached by the tiger and the ensuing physical contact between the tiger and Mr Chapman led to him sustaining multiple traumatic injuries which rapidly led to his death.” Park staff secured the tiger, and paramedics attended but confirmed Chapman’s death at the scene. The senior coroner, Nicola Mundy, said her office was awaiting a more substantial report on the extent of Chapman’s injuries. The inquest heard Chapman’s stepfather had travelled to the mortuary to identify him on 13 October.
The inquest heard his full name was William Harry Bruce Chapman and that he was born in 2002 in Chichester, West Sussex. Mundy said Chapman’s family “were finding things incredibly difficult” and had decided not to attend the hearing, but would be updated afterwards by her staff. His family spoke out on Wednesday after the US president, Donald Trump, shared a video of the attack with his 13 million followers on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday.
Trump followed this with an AI-generated video of himself play-fighting with the tiger, which ends with him and the tiger hugging. Chapman’s family said online footage being shared was “deeply offensive” and causing them “severe distress”. They also shared a tribute to him, writing: “William was a bright, warm and engaging young man whom his family dearly loved – and William loved them back.
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