A man was killed by a tigress at the Birsa Munda Biological Park in Ranchi on Wednesday after he fell into its enclosure while trying to take a selfie with the big cat.

Tigress ‘Anushka’ attacked the man in his 30s, identified as Wasim Ansari of Buti More in Ranchi, who died within minutes.

According to eyewitness Ramjit Oraon, Wasim climbed up a tree near the enclosure. “Initially, he took a few snaps of the animal. Then he tried to take a selfie with the tigress and, in the process, allowed the branch of the tree to tilt down a bit more. The branch gave away and he fell right into the enclosure where Anushka was taking a stroll. The tigress attacked him on his neck, face and chest. Before anyone could react, Wasim died, bleeding profusely,” said Oraon.

Wasim’s family members rushed to the zoo after the news flashed on television channels. “Wasim was a mechanic. He was mentally disturbed after his divorce barely four months after marriage in September 2019,” said one of his friends, requesting not to be quoted.

Officials of the forest department and the officer-in-charge (OC) of Ormanjhi police station, where the Birsa Munda Zoo is located, rushed to the incident site. “We are yet to ascertain how and why the man jumped into the enclosure. Visitors should strictly follow wildlife and zoo rules,” said the OC.

Wasim’s body has been sent for post-mortem.

Forest department officials are scanning CCTV footage to find out more about the incident. “This is the first such incident of killing by a big cat on the zoo premises,” said zoo director P K Verma.