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The monorail glided through the hilly and leafy Bronx Zoo as riders settled in Friday afternoon to enjoy a close-up view of 43 wooded acres, hoping to glimpse antelopes, rhinoceroses, elephants and other exotic Asian animals.

On the last day of summer, with the crisp air warmed by the late-afternoon sun, a 25-year-old rider waited until the Wild Asia Monorail was alongside the tiger habitat and then he leapt from the last rail car, clearing a 16-foot-high protective fence, according to zoo officials.

At about 3:25 p.m., the man, David Villalobos of Mahopac, N.Y., landed inside the tiger enclosure, where he was suddenly alone with Bachuta, an 11-year-old male Siberian tiger weighing 400 pounds, officials said. Bachuta attacked him, leaving “puncture wounds” on his arms, legs, shoulder and back, but did not appear to have clamped its jaws onto the man’s head or neck, as tigers are wont to do to their prey, said James Breheny, the zoo’s director.

The police said Mr. Villalobos also suffered a broken arm and a broken leg; he was in serious condition late Friday night at Jacobi Medical Center, the police said.

Frank Dwyer, a spokesman for the Fire Department, said the attack also caused “severe deep cuts” to the man’s back.

As Mr. Villalobos lay bleeding, zoo workers rushed to help him, shooing the tiger off with blasts from a fire extinguisher, Mr. Breheny said. After the tiger backed away, the man was told to roll under an electrified wire to safety.

“The keepers were able to call the tiger into its off-exhibit holding area and safely secured the animal,” Mr. Breheny said, adding that the man was conscious and talking when he was transported to the hospital by ambulance. He said the animal would be treated as usual because “the tiger did nothing wrong.”

Mr. Breheny said he did not know what motive Mr. Villalobos had for making the leap. He said it was the first time in the 35 years the monorail has operated that a passenger had jumped from it into an animal area.

“We honestly think we were providing a safe experience,” he said.

At about 6:30 p.m., a woman who answered the phone at Mr. Villalobos’s home and identified herself as a relative said the family had just learned of the attack and was too distraught to talk.

Mr. Villalobos’s Facebook page is filled with tributes to nature and images of tigers and other wild animals. One picture of wolves carries the caption: “Love the animals. God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled. Don’t trouble it, don’t harass them, don’t deprive them of their happiness.”



Daniel Krieger and Andy Newman contributed reporting.