Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Ryan Fahey

Private zoo keeper dies after hand mauled by TIGER he tried to pet at feeding time

A keeper in a private zoo was mauled to death when he tried to pet a tiger during feeding time.

Horrific footage of the attack - filmed in Periban, western Mexico - shows the keeper calling out to the big cat to get over to a chain link fence.

But as he starts to stroke the tiger's neck, the big cat's mood changes and it sinks its claws into the keeper's right hand.

As the keeper - named as Jose de Jesus, 23, screams in agony, the tiger pulls his hand towards its jaws and razor-sharp teeth.

A second gruesome video shows a huge pool of blood on the ground.

De Jesus was rushed to hospital but refused to allow medics to amputate his mauled hand.

He was attacked while feeding a Bengal tiger at the zoo in Mexico (CEN)
A second video shows a huge pool of blood after the mauling (CEN)

Doctors told local media that complications set in and de Jesus - who was a diabetic - died from a massive heart attack.

The grim video footage was reportedly released by the owner of the animals who kept them in a private zoo to show that the keeper had been negligent.

The tiger's owner said he had paid the medical bills for the man and added that he had all the necessary permits.

Local media reported it was being checked whether the owner of the tigers had permission from the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) to keep the animals.

It was reported that he also apparently keeps a lion and a crocodile at the same site.

The man can be seen feeding the big cat (CEN)

Last week a taxi driver was left without an arm after it was bitten off by two crocodiles while he was washing his hand in a zoo pool.

Ilham, 49, had dropped off local tourists when he suffered a flat tire and dirtied his hands changing the wheel at the Sinka Zoo West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, on June 9.

With oil on his palms, Ilham reached into a nearby pool to rinse off the dirt.

However, he screamed in pain when a crocodile leapt from the water and sank its teeth into his elbow.

A second beast then appeared and latched onto his arm.

Jose de Jesus, 23, was bitten by a tiger in San Francisco Periban, Mexico, earlier this month (CEN)

He battled the 16ft long behemoths and eventually broke free - but only because they bit off his arm.

On Monday, it emerged a boy survived a vicious shark attack as the predators swirled in the waters of an Australian beach.

Beachgoers were warned of huge sharks stalking swimmers off Frenchman's Beach amid news of the terrifying attack.

The annual whale migration began last weekend near the famous beach in Queensland, Australia.

Russell Specht, of Stradbroke Island, recalled his nephew's experience and urged tourists to be aware of the hidden dangers as thousands of humpbacks migrate to the east coast.

He said his lifeguard nephew Logan had a "really close call" while surfing and posted an aerial photo of the killer shark.

In an Instagram post, the uncle said: “He had to put the board between him and a big white … he thought it was over. I had to post something as too many tourists just have no idea.

"So many crew locals and tourists have no idea of the [amount of] whites following the whales and the mullet schools up and down [the] coast this time of year.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.