:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/CMKK4DNSQQ6CMLTWKYDLFMESZQ.jpg)
Japanese police are investigating the death of a zookeeper following an apparent attack by a rare white tiger.
Local officers said 40-year-old zookeeper Akira Furusho was found bleeding from his neck and collapsed inside a tiger cage at Hirakawa Zoological Park in Kagoshima, southern Japan.
Zoo officials said they believe Mr Furusho was attacked while trying to move a male tiger from its exhibition cage to its night-time enclosure. The cat is one of four white tigers at the zoo.
Mr Furusho was rushed to hospital but was later pronounced dead. His postmortem results are pending.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/3F54N2JIPZWBGXO6PP4S74BMKI.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/22KFDI3UAIHY644SYBNTEWO3ZM.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/672FLKHWVJQXN4KOSON726XYT4.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/DR3LHLKF566QFUR2IWQJEOBI6M.jpg)
The tiger was sedated with a tranquiliser gun.
The white tiger area has been closed to the public while police investigate the death. Officers will examine whether proper safety measures were in place.
Mr Furusho’s family has asked that the zoo keep the 170kg tiger alive, according to NHK public television. – AP