Tiger kills zookeeper in China

A tiger has attacked and killed its keeper at a zoo in southern China.

The animal was apparently agitated because it was the mating season and it was in heat.

The 42-year-old Thai victim - who had looked after the tiger for about eight years - died in hospital in Sanya on the tropical island province of Hainan.

He had been bitten in the leg and neck after bending down to pick up a broom while cleaning the tiger's cage.

A colleague had rushed to the victim's rescue by poking the cat with a pole.

In February, a tiger attacked a six-year-old girl waiting to have her picture taken with it at a zoo in southwest China, biting her head and killing her.

Two months later, crocodiles devoured a nine-year-old child who, along three school friends, had climbed into an enclosure at a holiday park and taunted the animals with sticks and catapults.

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