Former child actor William Chapman killed by tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park

William Chapman, 24, died on Saturday after entering the enclosure of Altai, an Amur tiger, at Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster. Emergency services were called at 13:33 but Chapman was pronounced dead at the scene. South Yorkshire Police received the report two minutes later.

Witnesses said Chapman descended from a raised public walkway, entered the enclosure, and crawled toward the animal before the attack. A visitor, Ella Ford, 24, filmed the tiger moments before the incident. The park evacuated visitors and closed on Sunday.

“We loved watching William grow, both as a person and as a performer, during his time with us.”

Chapman was a former child actor who appeared in the 2009 ITV comedy May Contain Nuts alongside Shirley Henderson, known as Moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter. He played Alfie Chaplin, the son of Henderson's character. He also portrayed a young Edward Jenner in the 2012 BBC series True Stories and worked as an extra in the film Pan starring Hugh Jackman.

His mother wrote in a 2014 blog post that Chapman attended Jackie Palmer Stage School in High Wycombe from age four and was passionate about acting. The school posted a tribute on Facebook saying they were "deeply saddened" and loved watching him grow as a person and performer.

Yorkshire Wildlife Park confirmed Altai was unharmed and would not be euthanized. The park activated emergency protocols and is working with authorities to determine exactly what occurred. Police initially indicated the attack was not being treated as suspicious.