By Tiaa Susman, Los Angeles Times –
NEW YORK — A 400-pound Siberian tiger named Bachuta soon will be back on display at the Bronx Zoo after a man jumped from the monorail into the tiger den and suffered severe injuries. Zoo workers distracted the cat long enough for the man to escape.
Little is known about the man, identified by relatives and friends as David M. Villalobos, 25, of Mahopac, N.Y. He was hospitalized with broken bones and bites. He was in contact with the tiger for about 10 minutes.
Zoo director Jim Breheny said it was the first time in the monorail’s 35 years that someone had done what Villalobos did Friday afternoon: take a flying leap about 17 feet to the ground, clearing the wall surrounding the enclosure where Bachuta was spending his day.
Villalobos survived because of the actions of the tiger and zoo workers, Breheny said. “Tigers are extremely capable predators. What they typically do is grab a prey animal either by the head or by the back of the neck, and it’s over very quickly,” he said. “This cat did not do this to the individual. I think it was just the tiger’s response and the fact we got there so quickly … that saved the guy’s life.”
“I think it’s safe to say if the tiger really wanted to do harm to this individual, he certainly would have had the time to do that,” Breheny said. “The tiger did nothing wrong in this case at all.”
The man had been visiting the zoo by himself and was in the last car of the monorail, whose cars are not enclosed but have railings to keep people inside of them. Villalobos, though, climbed over the railing and jumped.
“This is the first incident of its kind,” Breheny said. “When someone is determined to do something very harmful to themselves, it is very hard to stop them.”
After zoo workers were alerted that someone was in the tiger den, they arrived within minutes and used a fire extinguisher to distract Bachuta. Once the tiger had moved away from Villalobos, the zoo staff directed him to roll under an electrical wire that the animals know not to approach for fear of being shocked.
Villalobos was conscious and talking, and he did what zoo workers told him to do, Breheny said.
Bachuta is an 11-year-old tiger who has been at the zoo for about three years. He is one of several tigers in the zoo’s 43-acre Wild Asia exhibit, which is visible only from the monorail.
