United States: Man mauled by tiger after monorail jump

A VISITOR to New York’s Bronx Zoo leaped from a monorail train into an exhibit and was mauled by a tiger, officials said.

The man was alone with the 182-kilogram tiger for about 10 minutes before being rescued. He suffered bites and punctures and broke an arm and a leg. The attack happened in the Wild Asia exhibit, where a train with open sides takes visitors over the Bronx River and through a forest, where they glide along the top edge of a fence, past elephants, deer and a tiger enclosure.

Passengers are not strapped in on the ride, and the 25-year-old man apparently jumped out of his train car, with a leap powerful enough to clear the perimeter fence.

The zoo’s staff used a fire extinguisher to chase the tiger off, and the man rolled under an electrified wire to get to safety, zoo director Jim Breheny said.

The tiger did nothing wrong and will not be killed, he added.