White tiger cubs maul zoo caretaker to death in India

Forty-year-old caretaker had reportedly only been in the job for a week

One of the cubs leaped on the man and bit his neck (Getty Images)

A zoo caretaker has been mauled to death by white tiger cubs in India.

The caretaker was attacked in the Bannerghatta Biological Park near Bangalore while attempting to secure the cubs inside their enclosure, AFP reports.

Santosh Kumar, who runs the park, told the newswire that one of the gates had not been shut properly, which allowed the cubs to attack him.

“The victim was assisting the caretaker in pushing the cats into their enclosure for the night when they turned around and pounced on him as one of the four gates was not shut and latched by then,” he said.

The 40-year-old caretaker, named locally as Anji, had reportedly been in the job for a week and was helping out while a member of staff was on leave.

One cub leaped on the man and bit his neck, causing another cub to join the attack. A park official told the Times of India that when he started screaming, “the tigers got enraged and took him into the safari area”.

“He succumbed to his injuries,” he added.

Anji died at the scene and his body was later taken to Victoria Hospital.

Another zookeeper was said to have been with Anji at the time of the attack, as the caretaker reportedly had no animal keeping experience, but they were able to escape.

Mr Kumar told the newspaper the zoo is conducting an inquiry into the caretaker’s death.