Tigers mauled a man to death after he entered their enclosure with his son at a northern Chinese wildlife park, police and a park spokesman said today.

Staff at the Qingling Wildlife Park in the city of Xi'an rescued the son after discovering his father lying on the ground as several tigers stood nearby yesterday afternoon, said the park's spokesman, Jiao Congling.

The man suffered neck injuries and was declared dead after being taken to hospital, Mr Jiao said.

A preliminary investigation showed that a park worker had failed to properly close the gates leading to the enclosure and the unidentified pair simply walked in, Xi'an police spokesman Li Yanrong said.

The park staff member responsible for controlling the gates was detained for questioning, Mr Li added.

The 45-year-old father had taken his 17-year-old son to the park as a reward for completing a gruelling university entrance exam. The teenager suffered minor injuries, the official Xinhua News agency said.

Mr Jiao said the park has 50 tigers, only five of which were in the enclosure at the time of the attack.

Staff members drove vehicles in to scare off the tigers before attending to the pair, he said.