Copenhagen Zoo: Tiger Bite Killed Man Found Dead Inside Animal's Den, Police Say In Denmark

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Tigers fatally mauled a man inside an enclosure at the Copenhagen Zoo, officials said Wednesday.

It was unclear how or why the 21-year-old Afghan-born man had entered the Siberian tiger den, but investigators could not exclude suicide as a motive, police spokesman Lars Borg said. The man sustained multiple bite wounds to the throat, face, chest and a thigh.

"We don't know why he went in and why he ended up in the enclosure," Borg told The Associated Press.

The man was granted Danish citizenship last month and his family has identified him, Borg said. Police declined to release his name. His body was found surrounded by the zoo's three Siberian tigers by a zookeeper early Wednesday.

Borg said the man appeared to have entered the tiger area late Tuesday from a low wall surrounding the den and then ended up in the moat inside the enclosure.

"He has been in the water and the animals must have seen that and attacked him," Borg said. "He was killed in the water."

Police were trying to piece together the man's movements inside the zoo, but haven't had any luck with security cameras. There were no surveillance cameras at the tiger enclosure.

The man only had his old residence permit and keys to his Copenhagen apartment on him, Borg said.

Copenhagen Zoo manager Steffen Straede said it was the first time in the zoo's 152-year history that such an incident has occurred, and there were no plans to reassess its security or to put the tigers down.

"If a person really wants to get in (there), we cannot prevent it from happening," he said.

Also on HuffPost:

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• <em>From Getty:</em> SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 25: A Sumantran tiger cub seen on display at Taronga Zoo on October 25, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

• <em>From Getty:</em> A female Bengal tiger in her cage at the zoo of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on April 29, 2011. AFP PHOTO/VANDERLEI ALMEIDA

• <em>From Getty:</em> SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 25: Sumatran tiger Jumilah is seen with her cubs on display at Taronga Zoo on October 25, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

• <em>From Getty:</em> SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 25: A Sumatran tiger cub is seen on display at Taronga Zoo on October 25, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

• <em>From Getty:</em> SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 25: Sumatran tiger Jumilah is seen with one of her cubs on display at Taronga Zoo on October 25, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

• <em>From Getty:</em> A white tiger (Panthera tigris) is seen at the zoo in Cali, Colombia, on April 21, 2012. Colombia has the second largest biodiversity in the world. AFP PHOTO/Luis ROBAYO

• <em>From Getty:</em> Newborn Siberian tigers Virgil, Thrax and Manu are presented at the Budapest Zoo and Botanic Garden in the Hungarian capital on July 4, 2011. The eight-week-old tigers were presented to the press for the first time with their health checkup and ID chips implanted by the chief doctor of the zoo. AFP PHOTO / ATTILA KISBENEDEK

• <em>From Getty:</em> Tigers play in water at a tiger buddhist temple in Karnchanaburi province, western Thailand on April 24, 2012. Thailand is one of just 13 countries hosting fragile tiger populations and is a hub of international smuggling. Worldwide, numbers are estimated to have fallen to only 3,200 tigers from approximately 100,000 a century ago. AFP PHOTO/PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL

• <em>From Getty:</em> Tigers play in water at a tiger buddhist temple in Karnchanaburi province, western Thailand on April 24, 2012. Thailand is one of just 13 countries hosting fragile tiger populations and is a hub of international smuggling. Worldwide, numbers are estimated to have fallen to only 3,200 tigers from approximately 100,000 a century ago. AFP PHOTO/PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL

• <em>From Getty:</em> Two white tigers cub are pictured on December 5, 2011 at the zoological park of Cerza in Hermival-les-Vaux, northern France. The three-year-old Lisa gave birth on October 8, 2011 to two white tigers belonging to a relatively rare species. AFP PHOTO KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

• <em>From Getty:</em> A white tiger cub is pictured on December 5, 2011 at the zoological park of Cerza in Hermival-les-Vaux, northern France. The three-year-old Lisa gave birth on October 8, 2011 to two white tigers belonging to a relatively rare species. AFP PHOTO KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

• <em>From Getty:</em> SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 25: Sumatran tiger Jumilah is seen with one of her cubs on display at Taronga Zoo on October 25, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

• <em>From Getty:</em> A white tiger is pictured in its compound on June 30, 2011, at the Amneville's zoo, eastern France. AFP PHOTO / JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN

• <em>From Getty:</em> Tigers play in water at a tiger buddhist temple in Karnchanaburi province, western Thailand on April 24, 2012. Thailand is one of just 13 countries hosting fragile tiger populations and is a hub of international smuggling. Worldwide, numbers are estimated to have fallen to only 3,200 tigers from approximately 100,000 a century ago. AFP PHOTO/PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL

• <em>From Getty:</em> A tiger (Panthera tigris) is seen in a lake in the zoo of Cali, Colombia, on April 21, 2012. Colombia has the second largest biodiversity in the world. AFP PHOTO/Luis ROBAYO

• <em>From Getty:</em> A white tiger plays with a plant at the zoo on December 21, 2011 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. AFP PHOTO / Yasuyoshi Chiba

• <em>From Getty:</em> A Siberian tiger sniffs a paper-made snowman given by the staff as a Christmas present on December 21, 2011 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. AFP PHOTO / Yasuyoshi Chiba

• <em>From Getty:</em> SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 21: A Sumatran Tiger cub investigates a wrapped Christmas present at Taronga Zoo on December 21, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

• <em>From Getty:</em> SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 21: A Sumatran Tiger tears apart a wrapped Christmas present at Taronga Zoo on December 21, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

• <em>From Getty:</em> SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 21: Sumatran Tiger cubs tear apart a wrapped Christmas present at Taronga Zoo on December 21, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

• <em>From Getty:</em> SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 21: A Sumatran Tiger tears apart a wrapped Christmas present at Taronga Zoo on December 21, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

• <em>From Getty:</em> Two white tigers cub are pictured on December 5, 2011 at the zoological park of Cerza in Hermival-les-Vaux, northern France. The three-year-old Lisa gave birth on October 8, 2011 to two white tigers belonging to a relatively rare species. AFP PHOTO KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

• <em>From Getty:</em> A white tiger, Lisa, is pictured on December 5, 2011 in the zoological park of Cerza in Hermival-les-Vaux, northern France. The three-year-old Lisa gave birth on October 8, 2011 to two white tigers belonging to a relatively rare species. AFP PHOTO KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

• <em>From Getty:</em> A white tiger, Lisa, runs on December 5, 2011 in the zoological park of Cerza in Hermival-les-Vaux, northern France. The three-year-old Lisa gave birth on October 8, 2011 to two white tigers belonging to a relatively rare species. AFP PHOTO KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

• <em>From Getty:</em> A white tiger, Lisa, drinks water on December 5, 2011 in the zoological park of Cerza in Hermival-les-Vaux, northern France. The three-year-old Lisa gave birth on October 8, 2011 to two white tigers belonging to a relatively rare species. AFP PHOTO KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

• <em>From Getty:</em> SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 25: Sumatran tiger Jumilah plays with one of her cubs on display at Taronga Zoo on October 25, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

• <em>From Getty:</em> SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 25: Sumatran tiger Jumilah is seen on display at Taronga Zoo on October 25, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

• <em>From Getty:</em> SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 25: Sumatran tiger Jumilah is seen with one of her cubs on display at Taronga Zoo on October 25, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

• <em>From Getty:</em> SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 25: A Sumatran tiger cub looks through the glass of the tiger display at Taronga Zoo on October 25, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

• <em>From Getty:</em> SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 25: Sumatran tiger Jumilah is seen with one of her cubs on display at Taronga Zoo on October 25, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

• <em>From Getty:</em> Two months old Sumatran tiger cubs play in their exclosure on September 2, 2011 in Prague Zoo in the capital city. AFP PHOTO/ MICHAL CIZEK

• <em>From Getty:</em> A Malayan tiger, a subspecies of tiger found in the southern and central parts of the Malay Peninsula, rests in his enclosure at the Zoo of Prague on July 24, 2011. AFP PHOTO / MICHAL CIZEK

• <em>From Getty:</em> A white tiger is pictured in its compound on June 30, 2011, at the Amneville's zoo, eastern France. AFP PHOTO / JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN

• <em>From Getty:</em> A female Bengal tiger in her cage at the zoo of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on April 29, 2011. AFP PHOTO/VANDERLEI ALMEIDA

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  A Berlin zoo welcomes four adorable tiger cubs.

Comments

[Cuddle Bug]

03:24 PM on 04/11/2013

Remarkable and amazing people. Great advice for ways to assist them.
http://www.petsbargains.com/store/animal-den-coupons/

[Carla Scarpine]

01:56 PM on 09/27/2012

If I would have a sole chance to be there and also having the power of decision, I would be very pleased to have the opportunity to shoot everyone of those three tigers with a bullet (each one) between their eyes...

[GarderCarlos]

08:57 AM on 09/05/2012

Obviously, a huge mistake not to have killed those three very bad animals immediately after the event. Those felines always were, no doubt, very well fed in this zoo, they weren't starving, they wanted only to have some fun, killing the man. Yes, their act of killing the poor man was only due to animal cruelty and cowardice. The example of Cologne Zoo director who eliminated the also well fed siberian tiger who killed a woman should have been followed. But, I still believe that he should have killed also (in Colgne) other four tifers who still live in the same cage.

[Kahauna]

07:39 PM on 07/14/2012

Yay, Tigers!!!!

[ChesapeakePirate]

10:31 PM on 07/12/2012

The pic. of the two tiger cubs was cute.

I can hear them saying "Hey, Rodney, You hear that splash?"

[Christopher Koulouris]

09:21 PM on 07/12/2012

Could one even wonder for a moment that the man never intended to kill himself despite the reports and all he wanted was to experience the tranquility of the savagery of nature as close as possible before nature fought back the only way it usually ever understands….?

http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2012/07/did-one-man-set-out-to-kill-himself-when-he-was-eaten-by-tigers-at-copenhagen-zoo/

[Lady Lithia]

08:34 PM on 07/12/2012

I like that there aren't any plans to put the tigers down. You can't blame them for acting on the advent of a tasty intruder into their domain.

[DoJnD]

01:50 PM on 07/12/2012

If his intent was to feed the animals, I would say he succeeded.

[AngD]

01:40 PM on 07/12/2012

It's like that dude that tried to swim with Shamu, not a good idea.

[Counterglow]

08:59 AM on 07/12/2012

I think the tigers did a pretty good job of identifying the guy. They identified him as, "Lunch".

[ArchStanton400]

08:21 AM on 07/12/2012

He prolly thought Allah would protect him from the big kitty-cats, but instead, it was Darwin who was peering over his reading glasses from above, with glint of mischevious fun in his winking eye at the opportunity thus presented......

[george martini]

07:23 AM on 07/12/2012

They need to feed those animals regularly.

[Counterglow]

09:01 AM on 07/12/2012

Come on, now. If somebody turned up at your home unexpectedly to offer you a free pizza, no strings attached, would you say no?

[george martini]

06:25 PM on 07/12/2012

For some reason tigers prefer to eat people born in Afghanistan.

[Havana Thinks]

05:28 AM on 07/12/2012

Put the blame on Charlie Sheen.

[Kambriel2]

11:51 PM on 07/11/2012

As suicide plans go, he gets points for originality.

[Holly Paine]

07:47 PM on 07/11/2012

I'm just so very glad they aren't going to put the tigers down for this. If the man was in their enclosure, it shouldn't be considered that they did something wrong. Honestly, even if they got out of the enclosure... we cannot push our humanistic morals on to wild animals that we decide to cage.