Who was the lady who fell into the tiger enclosure at Dudley zoo?

A family are hoping to solve the mystery of an incredible photo which shows a four-year-old girl who fell into a tiger enclosure in 1937. 

Mike Harvey, 62, uncovered the chilling photo during a clear out of his mother’s belongings. 

The black and white picture fell out of an old book and it captured the image of a girl, aged around four, inside the den at Dudley Zoo. 

After making the discovery, Mr Harvey’s mother, Constance Routh, recalled the terrifying incident to her son. 

Ms Routh, who was 12 at the time, and her family had recently moved to Birmingham and decided to go for a day trip to the recently opened Dudley Zoo. 

The family had taken a picnic and decided to sit on a patch of grass to enjoy their lunch when they heard a commotion coming from the tiger enclosure.

They suddenly noticed a young girl had tumbled down onto a concrete ledge and landed next to the beasts after squeezing through some railings.

Ms Routh’s father Harry Routh was able to capture the dramatic events unfolding in the den on his camera.

His picture shows the girl, who appears to be wearing a summer dress and clutching a doll, just inches away from a tiger cub while a huge adult looks on.

According to Ms Routh, a group of men managed to bravely save the child by forming form a human chain to grab her.

Mr Harvey has since tried to track down the unidentified girl after discovering the photograph three years ago but without any joy.

He is now appealing for anyone who knows who she is, or anybody who remembers the incident, to get in touch to try and help them solve the mystery.

Mr Harvey, who lives in Leeds, said: ‘It’s an amazing story. Somebody out there must know or have heard who that person was or is.

‘It’s quite possible she’s still alive – who knows? It would just be lovely to know what happened to her.

‘There can’t be many families out there that remember being told a story of the day their mother or grandmother fell down a cliff into a tiger den.’

Dudley Zoo is located within the grounds of Dudley Castle, in the Black Country, and opened to the public on May 18, 1937.

It was around this time when Mr Harvey estimates his mother and her family went on their day trip there.

He said: ‘I would just love the photo to be shown to the family who were involved or the family of the rescuers.

‘The story belongs to that family and the men who rescued her.

‘I would be selfish to keep it to myself and it feels like I’m bringing this to life.’

He added: ‘I sat down and asked my mum about it. And she just said ‘it’s when the little girl fell into the tiger den’.

‘But she said it so calmly and casually. I had to get the story out of her a couple of times.

‘My grandad had worked in the shipyards up north and he had cycled down to Birmingham on a tandem with her sister looking for work.

‘I think he got work at a power station and they then bought a house in Birmingham and I don’t think they had been there long.

‘They went off to the zoo for the day, which must have just opened, and sat down on the grass to have a picnic and heard this commotion going on.

‘She said they saw a little girl tumble down onto the ledge where the tigers were.

‘She was saying it so matter-of-factly and apparently these men just climbed over the railings and formed a human chain.

‘And they got her up and out of the enclosure to safety.

‘I was absolutely fascinated by this story.

‘I rang the zoo and sent them the photo but the only thing they could tell me was that the enclosure was exactly the same as it was then as it’s Grade I listed.

‘Somewhere somebody has told that story but there is no record of it except for this picture.’

MailOnline has contacted Dudley Zoo for comment.