Vijay is the white tiger that mauled and killed a 20-year-old Maksood, an Indian man, on Tuesday at the Delhi Zoo in India.
Eyewitnesses and zoo officials said Maksood, 20, a resident of Anand Parbat in Delhi, had “crossed the stand-off barrier” of the white tiger’s enclosure and then fell or jumped into the moat which separated the enclosure from the visitors’ gallery.
“The guard posted at the enclosure tried to stop the youth twice. But Maksood crossed the stand-off barriers when the guard was not looking. He then jumped into the enclosure,” he added.
The story further reports that Maksood was allegedly mentally unstable.
After the incident, the zoo reported that Vijay, who is captive bred, has never shown any signs of aggression and that the mauling was further aggravated by onlookers who pelted the tiger with stones.
Vijay is a male and is six-feet and weighs nearly 450-pounds.