A white tiger has mauled a zookeeper to death in its enclosure at a zoo in Japan, officials say.

据相关官员表示，日本一家动物园的一只白虎，在虎圈内咬死了一名饲养员。

Akira Furusho, 40, was found bleeding from the neck in the tiger's cage at the zoo in the southern city of Kagoshima. He was taken to hospital and pronounced dead.

在这家位于鹿儿岛南部的动物园的虎笼内，40岁的饲养员古庄晃被发现颈部出血。随后他被送往医院，但最终宣告死亡。

The male tiger, named Riku, was sedated with a tranquiliser before rescue workers and police arrived.

在救援人员和警察到达之前，这只名叫Riku的雄虎被注射了镇静剂。

It is to be kept alive following a request from the victim's family.

根据受害者家属的要求，这只白虎将继续存活。

"We plan not to kill Riku and continue to keep it because the bereaved family asked us to do so," said Takuro Nagasako, a zoo official said, quoted by the AFP news agency.

《法新社》援引动物园负责人田畔高士的话称：“我们不打算杀死Riku，要继续养着它，因为这是死者家属的要求。”

Police are now investigating how the zoo looks after the four white tigers it keeps.

警方目前正在调查该动物园是如何照看园中饲养的四只白虎的。

White tigers are a rare variant of the orange Bengal sub-species and owe their colour to a recessive gene. Today, they are exclusively in captive programmes where the limited numbers are interbred to maintain the distinctive fur colour.

白虎是橙色孟加拉亚种的罕见变种，其颜色归于隐性基因。如今这一数量有限的物种只能人工圈养，并通过异种交配以保持其独特的毛皮颜色。