Rare white tiger mauls zookeeper to death in Japan

Akira Furusho was found bleeding from the neck in animal’s enclosure at the Hirakawa Zoological Park

A white tiger like this has mauled a zookeeper to death in Japan. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A zookeeper has been killed by a rare white tiger at a zoo in southern Japan.

Wildlife officials said Akira Furusho was found bleeding from the neck in the animal’s enclosure at the Hirakawa Zoological Park in the city of Kagoshima on Monday. The 40-year-old employee was taken to hospital but later died from his injures.

According to local reports, Mr Furusho is believed to have been mauled to death by one of the park’s four rare white tigers.

The tiger thought to be responsible was sedated with a tranquilliser after the attack as rescue workers and police rushed to the scene.

It remains unclear what triggered the attack, which occurred after the zoo has closed for the day.

Police are now investigating how the white tigers, which are a variant of the orange Bengal sub-species and owe their colour to a recessive gene, are being cared for at the publicly run zoo.

In May 2017, British zookeeper Rosa Kings died at Hamerton Zoo Park in Cambridgeshire, England in what was described as a “freak accident”. The 33-year-old was killed after a tiger entered the enclosure in which she was working.

Following her death, King’s family said she had “lived and breathed a vocation that meant the world to her”.

Delhi Zoo recently installed human-sized cages to provide people with a safe place to hide in the event that they fall into dangerous enclosures. Authorities decided to introduce the measure after a tragic incident in September 2014 when 22-year-old, whom they identified only as Maqsood, fell into the white tiger's moat and was mauled to death.