At approximately 13.31 on 10 October 2026, William Chapman scaled two fences at Yorkshire Wildlife Park and dropped into the Amur tiger enclosure. Coroner’s officer Caitlin Brookes later told Doncaster Coroner’s Court that he was approached by the tiger and that the ensuing physical contact produced multiple traumatic injuries which rapidly led to his death. Paramountics attended; he was confirmed ᴅᴇᴀᴅ at the scene. Park staff secured the animal. An initial post-mortem examination conducted by Dr Karzai recorded the provisional cause as 1A multiple traumatic injuries and 1B animal interaction, with a fuller report still awaited at the time of the opening hearing. Senior Coroner Nicola Mundy opened the inquest on 15 October and immediately adjourned it to 18 March 2027, noting that her office required a more substantial description of the injuries.

Chapman’s family did not attend; Mundy recorded that they were finding matters incredibly difficult and would be updated by her staff. The court heard that he had a history of mental illness, a diagnosis of schizophrenia and previous episodes of psychosis, yet was under adult mental health services in Doncaster and was regarded as highly functioning and independent with no care requirements. His relatives had expressed a number of concerns about that contact. The Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust confirmed it had opened an investigation.

City of Doncaster Council, responsible for licensing the park, launched a parallel health-and-safety investigation and undertook to share the outcome with the coroner. South Yorkshire Police supplied witness statements from members of the public and park staff. Mundy directed that Yorkshire Wildlife Park preserve relevant CCTV and advise whether Chapman had visited previously. Eyewitness accounts described him wearing headphones, pacing near the enclosure, and filming himself as he walked toward the tiger across open grᴀss. Some visitors reported that he appeared detached from his surroundings; others said they had tried to call him back and that keepers had used noise to distract Altai.

The five-year-old male Amur tiger, transferred to the park from Norway the previous year, weighed more than 200 kilograms and is classified as endangered. The park stated that Altai was uninjured, remained in the enclosure, and would not be put down. After the incident the site was evacuated and remained closed until 16 October, when it reopened following engagement with the relevant authorities. Flowers left at the entrance were later moved to a temporary memorial. The documented sequence is therefore one of a solitary visitor climbing two barriers, an immediate approach to a large adult male tiger, rapid fatal injuries, concurrent official inquiries into both the physical circumstances and the mental-health support that had been in place, and an inquest that will resume in March 2027 with a more detailed pathology report and the results of the council and NHS investigations.