A 400-pound 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 euthanized and "did nothing wrong," the zoo director said. 
 
 The ticket booths are empty and the gates are chained shut at an entrance to the Bronx Zoo in New York, Friday, Sept. 21, 2012. Zoo officials say a visitor who leaped into an exhibit and was mauled by... (Associated Press) 
 
 Bronx Zoo Director Jim Breheny speaks to the media during a news conference, Friday, Sept. 21, 2012, in New York. A visitor to the zoo was mauled by a tiger after he leaped from an elevated monorail train... (Associated Press) 
 
 CORRECTS THAT MAN DID NOT LOSE LEG, ADDS NEW INFO ON HIS CONDITION- FILE- In this Sept. 20, 2010 photo provided by the Wildlife Conservation Society, three Amur tiger cubs rest by a fallen tree limb at... (Associated Press) 
 
 The mauling happened 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 the man apparently jumped out of his train car with a leap powerful enough to clear the 16-foot-high perimeter fence. 
 
 The 25-year-old man 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. 
 
 "When someone is determined to do something harmful to themselves," Breheny said, "it's very hard to stop that." 
 
 Bashuta was returned to a holding area where it usually sleeps at night and will not be euthanized, zoo officials said. 
 
 "The tiger did nothing wrong in this episode," Breheny said. 
 
 A hospital spokeswoman said the man was in stable condition Friday night, but his family has requested that no further information be released. 
 
 "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," Breheny said. 
 
 After zoo staff chased the tiger off, the man was instructed to roll under an electrified wire to get to safety, Breheny said. Zookeepers then called the tiger into a holding area, he said. 
 
 Bashuta is 11 years old and has been at the zoo for three years. 
 
 The Bronx Zoo, one of the nation's largest zoos, sprawls over 265 acres and contains hundreds of animals, many in habitats meant to resemble natural settings. Its exhibits include Tiger Mountain, Congo Gorilla Forest and World of Reptiles. 
 
 There are 10 tigers at the Wild Asia exhibit, but Bashuta was the only one on display at the time. There are no surveillance cameras in that area of the exhibit. 
 
 Zoo officials said they would review safety procedures but stressed that the situation was unusual. 
 
 "We review everything, but we honestly think we provide a safe experience," Breheny said. "And this is just an extraordinary occurrence ... somebody was deliberately trying to endanger themselves." 
 
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 Associated Press writers Tom Hays and David B. Caruso contributed to this report. ||||| An image of foxes with the message, "We have more to fear from other people than from other animals" was also posted Thursday. In other posts he promotes a vegetarian diet. 
 
 
 
 Another image posted Thursday bears the message, "We need to stop being victims and living out of fear. We need to stop preparing for disaster, instead to anticipate a glorious future." 
 
 
 
 Bachuta's cubs, were first featured in the Daily News in 2010. He mated with a female tiger, Sasha, the first day they were introduced, after Sasha had rejected previous males zoo handlers paired her with. Their offspring were the zoo's first Amur cubs in more than a decade. 
 
 
 
 Breheny praised zoo workers for getting the tiger away from the victim before he did more harm. 
 
 
 
 "We were able to prevent a bad situation from turning into a real tragedy," Breheny said at the press conference. "We did not have to use deadly force but we were prepared to do so." 
 
 
 
 Bachuta will be back on exhibit tomorrow, zoo officials said. 
 
 
 
 "We've never had a single incident like this," Breheny said. "You have to be determined to jump out."bpaddock@nydailynews.com
– Bronx Zoo officials say they won't euthanize a tiger that mauled an apparently suicidal visitor yesterday. The 25-year-old victim survived, though the Daily News says he might lose one of his legs. He horrified fellow riders on the zoo's monorail when he jumped off the ride and into the tigers' den. There, a 400-pound male Siberian tiger mauled him until zookeepers moved the animal away with a fire extinguisher, reports AP. The man then rolled under an electrified wire to safety. "The tiger did nothing wrong," said the zoo's director. "When someone is determined to do something harmful to themselves it's very hard to stop that." The New York Post and others have identified the victim as David Villalobos and note that his Facebook page shows that he's an animal lover. In fact, he posted a photo of a mother tiger licking its baby this week. Villalobos was in stable condition this morning.