NEW YORK (Reuters) – A Siberian tiger critically injured a man who jumped into the big cat’s den at New York City’s Bronx Zoo yesterday, retreating only after emergency workers scared it off with a fire extinguisher.
The man, 25, was riding the zoo’s elevated monorail in the afternoon and leapt from a car, clearing a fence around the tiger enclosure, according to a statement from the zoo.
He was taken to a local hospital and was in critical condition, the New York City fire department said.
Zoo and fire officials said the man received bites or puncture wounds on his arms, legs and the top of his shoulder on his back during the approximately 10 minutes he was alone with the tiger.
“One leg was severely injured,” said Frank Dwyer, a fire department spokesman, although he could not confirm early reports that the man lost a foot in the incident.
In rescuing the man, the zoo’s emergency workers used a fire extinguisher to repel the tiger, then ordered the man to roll under an electrified perimeter wire to safety. The staff had been prepared to use deadly force if necessary, zoo director Jim Breheny told a televised news conference.
“If not for the quick response by our staff and their ability to perform well in emergency situations, the outcome would have been very different,” the zoo said.
The tiger involved is an 11-year-old, 400-pound (180-kg) male named Bachuta, Breheny said. The director said the zoo will review the incident but will not put the tiger down or take it out of the exhibit.
Breheny said the incident was “just an extraordinary event that happened because somebody was trying to endanger themselves.”
“The tiger did nothing wrong in this case at all,” he said.
Earlier this year, tigers at a Danish zoo in Copenhagen killed a man who scaled a fence and crossed a moat to get into their den in July, and wolves at Sweden’s largest zoo killed a zookeeper in their enclosure in June.
