A Siberian tiger killed a zookeeper in Germany as visitors nearby watched the incident unfold.

The 10-year-old tiger, Rasputin, attacked a 56-year-old worker known only as Martin H. during a public feeding of the big cats in the Allwetterzoo Muenster on Thursday.

The incident took place after a worker may have improperly latched a lock that would have otherwise secured the tiger in the enclosure.

A group of people had gathered to watch the caged animals eat when the tiger jumped the keeper from behind and killed him with "a targeted neck bite," said a fire department spokesman, Dieter Knaack, told the media.

"The [keeper] had no chance. He was killed instantly," Knaack said.

Neither of the two tigers in the enclosure have ever posed a threat to the people, zoo officials said. The zoo was immediately closed following the attack.

The zoo's director, Joerg Adler, told reporters that the keeper had worked there for 20 years and "loved his animals." He added that the tiger may have mistaken the victim for an intruder when he entered the cage.

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