China PSA: Pay attention to warning signs or you'll get eaten by tigers

A man who unwittingly entered the grounds of a Beijing zoo was mauled and eaten by a Siberian tiger, zoo staff said Sunday.

A migrant farmer, surnamed Guo, was returning with two friends from touring the Great Wall when he entered the Badaling Wild Animal World complex on Saturday afternoon.

Despite posted warning signs, the three men somehow managed to scale multiple three-meter fences and ended up in the enclosure that held Siberian tigers. While his two friends escaped, Guo was caught by a tiger and killed instantly.

Though the story varies slightly according to different sources - Xinhua published the man's age as 18, while nineMSN reported that he was 20 - the news reports all say that the men were unaware that they were entering a wild animal preserve, and may have assumed that they had found a shortcut down from the Great Wall.

Xinhua has a particularly gruesome description of what happened next:

A worker with the zoo said he was patrolling in the tigers area in a car when he saw a grown Siberian tiger was biting a man in the throat and throwing his head.

Yikes. So really people, here's something to keep in mind the next time you visit Beijing: those warning signs and fences are up there for a reason... And never trust your friend when he says he's found a shortcut.

Photo by Tambako; for illustration purposes only.