Tiger Attack At Delhi Zoo Turns Killer Animal Into Tourist Attraction

A tiger attack at the Delhi Zoo this week left a student dead and has now turned the white tiger exhibit into a kind of morbid tourist attraction.

The attack took place on Tuesday, when a young man in his early 20s fell into the white tiger cage and found himself face to face with the rare animal. A video of the incident taken by a fellow zoo visitor showed the tiger standing in front of the cowering young man and pawing at his body.

The young man, who also appeared to be praying, was seen curling up as bystanders tried to distract the tiger. But the animal quickly pounced on the young man, dragging him to the opposite side of the enclosure.

Witnesses said the victim of the tiger attack at the Delhi Zoo was intoxicated, adding that the man appeared to jump in rather than accidentally falling.

“Despite repeated warnings that he shouldn’t get too close to the outdoor enclosure, the man eventually climbed over a knee-high fence and small hedges, then jumped down 18 feet into a protective moat,” said National Zoological Park Spokesman Riyaz Ahmed Khan.

The white tiger attack has now turned the Delhi Zoo into an odd tourist attraction. Many visitors have requested to see the killer tiger, causing attendance numbers to swell in the last two days.

“Curiosity (about the tiger) is pulling the crowd,” N. Panneer Selvam, veterinary officer at the National Zoological Park, said on Thursday. “In the past two to three days, there are more crowds to see the tiger.”

Many of the visitors had seen video of the tiger attack.”I wanted to see what had happened. I saw the video (of the incident) on a friend’s cellphone,” said Afsar Khan, a visitor from Delhi.

But visitors looking for the animal responsible for the tiger attack at the Delhi Zoo may have to wait a bit longer. Vijay, the young white tiger who mauled the young man to death, is being held for observation for five days.