What we know so far about the reports of a 'tiger attack' at Hamerton Zoo

What we know so far about the reports of a 'tiger attack' at Hamerton Zoo



Visitors at Hamerton Zoo were evacuated after emergency services were called to a 'serious incident' which is thought to have involved a tiger.



Cambridgeshire Police confirmed they were called to the zoo near Huntingdon at 11.15am today.



Speculation that a tiger had escaped its enclosure has been dismissed by Cambridgeshire Police and Hamerton Zoo, but the incident is still being described as "very serious".



It is believed someone was attacked by a tiger within an enclosure, but they have not yet been identified.



A Cambridgeshire Police spokeswoman said: “Officers were called at around 11.15am to reports of a serious incident at Hamerton Zoo Park, Steeple Gidding.



Live: Hamerton Zoo in Cambridgeshire evacuated after reports of 'tiger attack', no children hurt



“Officers attended the scene along with ambulance crews and MAGPAS.



“We are unable further information available at this time, however, we can confirm that no animals have escaped and members of the public are safe.



“We will provide a further update when we are able to.”



A MAGPAS air ambulance also landed at the 20-acre facility, which is home to a number of big cats, primates, marsupials, other mammals and birds.



A Magpas Air Ambulance spokeswoman said its "enhanced medical team were called to a very serious incident" at 11.34am today.



She said: "An EEAST Ambulance Service paramedic crew and two rapid response vehicles were also in attendance, alongside the Police.



“Visitors were safely evacuated from the zoo and no one was running. We can also confirm that no animals escaped the enclosure and no children were injured.”



An eyewitness to the scene Charlie Hawthorn, 18, from Northampton, described chaotic scenes.



He said: "When we were going into the zoo there were zookeepers came rushing over telling us there'd been a serious incident and everyone needed to get out.



"Then they actually let us back in for around 15 or 20 minutes before the zookeepers started running around in a bit more of a panic and saying everyone had to get out.



"There was one woman saying a teenage boy was missing and it was just absolute chaos. There were three ambulances, an air ambulance helicopter, police, it looked like a big incident."



Pete Davies, 55, who was there with his partner and son, said: “We were at the tiger enclosure and there was a guy who was ahead of us with a camera taking photos of animals.

“He was in the next closure, he came running past us really quickly. Then he came back with a few zoo keepers to the viewing area of where the tiger was, and then we heard a girl screaming and another one said run to us so we found a small room and stayed there until it was safe to leave.

“There was no tiger on the loose because they said we can we can into the next part.

“The zoo keepers had their heads in their hands, and didn’t know what to do, throwing meat over the enclosure to entice the tiger away. They shouted stuff. “It went on for too long. Then we were ushered out and left.

“We didn’t see anything because it happened behind a mound of grass. It seems like a tiger has turned on a zoo keeper.”



Another eyewitness Jeff Knott, from Cambridgeshire, said staff had been “a real credit” to the zoo during the evacuation.



The 32-year-old told the Press Association: “We had been in the zoo since about 10.30am and heard/seen nothing until asked to leave about 11.45am.



“Staff were very calm and professional. All visitors around us were leaving in a very calm manner - no running, shouting or anything similar.”



The park was closed for the rest of the day and the public are not believed to be at risk.



The zoo is a 25-acre wildlife park that has about 500 animals including monkeys, cheetahs, raccoons, sloth and a collection of Malaysian tigers and white tigers.



In October 2008, a cheetah escaped from the zoo, described as “the most environmentally-friendly zoo in Europe" and reemerged in a nearby back garden.



Eight-year-old Toby Taylor found the cheetah in the back garden of his family home. It was thought to have got out through a faulty electric fence.