THIS is the horrific moment a man is dragged off and mauled to death by a tiger after climbing into a zoo enclosure.

       The shocking footage shows the man being cornered by the tiger while terrified onlookers pelt the hungry beast with stones in a desperate bid to distract it.

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       A man was attacked by a tiger after climbing into the enclosure Credit: Youtube 5

       He was mauled to death by the beast at the Delhi zoo Credit: Youtube 5

       Shocking footage shows him being dragged off by the tiger Credit: Youtube

       According to the staff at the Delhi Zoo the man, identified as 20-year-old Maqsood, had climbed into the enclosure.

       However, eyewitnesses claimed he had slipped.

       The beast appears to be playing with its prey for some time before it attacked, witnesses said.

       The tiger, named Vijay, can be seen locking its jaws around the victim's neck and dragging him around as police rushed to the scene.

       Onlookers criticised the zoo's handling of the incident, claiming that the staff had failed to go to the man's aid quickly enough and did not put the big cat down with a tranquilliser gun.

       Eyewitness Prakash Kumar said: “There were no guards near the enclosure at the time. The man seemed to have jumped into the enclosure. I don’t know what was he trying to do.

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       “Everyone started shouting for help. But only one zoo guard came. We started throwing stones and whatever we could find at the tiger. But in a matter of second he had dragged the man to the corner of the enclosure.”

       The victim's body was retrieved nearly two hours later when staff were able to push the animal away.

       Zoo officials insisted they did their best to save the man and denied allegations of dereliction of duty by the guards.

       Spokesman Riyaz Ahmed Khan said Maqsood had been warned not to get too close to the fencing.

       He said: "Despite repeated warnings that he shouldn’t get too close to the outdoor enclosure, the youth eventually climbed over a knee-high fence, through some small hedges, then jumped down 18 feet into a protective moat."

       Amitabh Agnihotri, the director of Delhi Zoo, said the staff unsuccessfully tried to divert the tiger’s attention as he attacked the man.

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       Onlookers tried to distract the tiger by throwing stones Credit: Youtube 5

       The zoo insisted it did everything ti could to save the 20-year-old's life Credit: Youtube

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