image source, AFP
The white tiger is an endangered species.
A white tiger attacked and killed a teenager on Tuesday at a zoo in the Indian capital, New Delhi, according to official sources and witnesses who were at the scene.
The hotel manager, Riaz Khan, said the boy “appears to have jumped over the fence and entered the space (where) tiger is,” according to the AFP news agency.
Television footage shows the boy backed against a wall, with the tiger facing him.
A witness said the teen was leaning over the railing when he fell into the area where the animal was found.
“At around 1:30 p.m. (local time), we were in the reptile area when we heard loud screams,” a witness told CNN-IBN television channel.
“I ran to where the tiger is and saw that a white tiger had caught a boy by the neck and he was writhing in pain. Some children were throwing sticks and stones at the tiger.”
White tigers are a rare variant of the orange Bengal subspecies.
Considered an endangered species, its specimens are found in South and East Asia, especially in India.
