COPENHAGEN - A man was killed by tigers at a zoo on Wednesday after he scaled a fence and crossed a moat to get into their enclosure in the Danish capital Copenhagen, police said.

The man, in his early 20s, was savaged by three tigers after he broke into Copenhagen Zoo in the early hours. He was dead when staff arrived for work.

“We received an emergency call at about 7:30 a.m. that a person had been found lying in the tiger pen and that three tigers were surrounding that person,” police Superintendent Lars Borg told Reuters.

“The tigers attacked him and killed him. It is likely that a bite to the throat was the primary reason for his death,” Borg said.

Police said the man, who had not yet been identified, may have entered the enclosure as a way of committing suicide.

They said he was not Danish but his nationality was not yet known. He had a Denmark resident’s permit.

Psychologists have been called to the zoo to talk to staff who found the body, the zoo’s chief executive Steffen Straede said.