Grisly Tiger Incident At The Bronx Zoo

Grisly Tiger Incident At The Bronx Zoo, A man gets mauled after leaping into the animal den from an elevated monorail train. Man Hospitalized After Jumping into Bronx Zoo Tiger Den, A man was hospitalized after apparently jumping off an electric monorail ride and over an electric fence into the tiger den at New York’s Bronx Zoo this afternoon.

The victim, who zoo officials said was approximately 25 years old, suffered multiple wounds, including tiger bites and fractures, according to Emergency Medical Services and police. Among the injuries were a deep wound to the back, a tiger bite to the right ankle that possibly caused a fracture and a right knee injury.

Earlier, police said the man had to have a foot amputated, but officials later said that was not the case.

Sources told WABC-TV in New York that the man was David Villalobos, 25, of Mahopac, N.Y., which is in Putnam County, north of New York City.

The zoo released a statement today saying the man jumped off the Wild Asia Monorail ride he was on at approximately 3 p.m., cleared the tiger exhibit’s perimeter fence, and ended up in the tiger habitat.

“Our emergency response staff immediately went to the site and used a CO2 fire extinguisher to move the tiger away from the person,” the statement read. “Once the tiger backed off, the man was instructed to roll under a hot wire to safety. The keepers were able to call the tiger into its off-exhibit holding area and safely secured the animal.”

Zoo director Jim Breheny told reporters the man was in the tiger area exposed to the tiger for approximately 10 minutes. He remained in the area receiving first aid after the tiger was secured.