NY Zoo: Tiger that mauled man 'did nothing wrong'

NEW YORK (AP) - A 180kg tiger that mauled a man who jumped from a moving monorail train and plummeted over a protective fence at the Bronx Zoo will not be euthanised and "did nothing wrong," the zoo director said.

The mauling happened on Friday afternoon 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 aren't strapped in on the ride, and 25-year-old David Villalobos apparently jumped out of his train car with a leap powerful enough to clear the 5m-high perimeter fence.

Mr Villalobos was alone with a male Siberian tiger named Bashuta for about 10 minutes before he was rescued by zoo officials, who used a fire extinguisher to chase the animal away, said zoo director Jim Breheny. He suffered bites and punctures on his arms, legs, shoulders and back and broke an arm and a leg.