A man who was mauled to death by a tiger at a zoo in eastern China on Sunday was found to have climbed two three-meter walls to avoid paying the entrance fee, according to the official announcement by the zoo.

The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon in Ningbo Youngor Zoo, in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

A local government statement says the victim, identified only by his surname of Zhang, along with a friend climbed a fence and passed through a wire netting. Zhang eventually climbed a further wall to enter the tiger enclosure, while his friend stayed back, the statement said.

A tiger attacked him inside the enclosure, while the park's visitors watched from a distance. Photos and video shared on social media appear to show Zhang lying on the ground as the tiger circled him, Japanese newspaper Asahi wrote.

One tiger was shot dead by the police, while zoo staff tried various methods to drive the other animals away, including setting off firecrackers in order to save the man, Hong Kong newspaper the South China Morning Post wrote.

The badly injured Zhang was rescued more than an hour later, but died in a hospital.

The zoo is under investigation by local authorities. The surveillance footage is currently being reviewed.

Zhang, 40, was from Hubei, his family said. He had worked in Ningbo since 2000 and earned several thousand yuan a month. His family described him as an “underprivileged employee,” the South China Morning Post wrote.

The incident drew a protest from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, which said it reflected the problems of keeping tigers and other large cats in captivity, the Asahi Newspaper wrote.

"Attacks by captive big cats on people – which occur with staggering regularity –illustrate the profound level of stress, anxiety and agitation these animals experience every day of their lives," PETA's vice president of international campaigns, Jason Baker, said in a statement.

Four visitors who also tried sneaking into the same zoo in 2006 were nearly killed by lions. Two women were attacked by Siberian tigers in July when they got out of their vehicle at a Beijing safari park. One woman was killed, while the other was seriously injured.

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