New York ( CNN ) -- A man is in critical condition at a hospital after jumping out of a monorail car into the Bronx Zoo 's tiger pit , the zoo 's director said . The man -- believed to be about 25 -- was riding on the zoo 's Wild Asia monorail around 3 p.m. Friday when he jumped out of his car , `` clearing the exhibit 's perimeter fence , '' according to statement from Bronx Zoo Director Jim Breheny . The facility emergency response staff arrived and used a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher to move a tiger away from the man , Breheny said . But they did not get there before the man had suffered multiple puncture wounds after being bitten by a tiger , CNN affiliates WABC and WCBS reported , citing police . Heeding instructions , the man then rolled `` under a hot wire to safety , '' the zoo director said . The zoo uses hot wires as training tools to keep animals away from such areas as plant beds . If the animal comes into contact with the wire , it feels a small electric shock . Because the man followed instructions to roll under the wire , `` that probably saved his life , '' Breheny told reporters . He was `` conscious and talking '' as he was taken , by ambulance , to nearby Jacobi Medical Center . The man was in critical condition at the hospital , according to a New York fire department spokesman , who was not named per department policy . `` I think it 's safe to say that if the tiger really wanted to do harm to this individual he certainly had the time to do it , '' Breheny said . Breheny said the tiger will not be put down as it `` did nothing wrong . '' `` This is just an extraordinary occurrence that happened because ... somebody was deliberately trying to endanger themselves , '' he said . According to the Bronx Zoo 's website , the exhibit called Tiger Mountain houses Amur tigers , also known as Siberian tigers , as well as Malayan tigers . Three cubs of each subspecies are part of the exhibit . Situated north of Manhattan , the Bronx Zoo is the flagship park run by the Wildlife Conservation Society , a group whose mission is to `` save wildlife and wild places across the globe . '' CNN 's Rob Frehse and Brittany Brady contributed to this report .
A man jumped from a monorail car into the Tiger Mountain exhibit , the zoo 's director says . Zoo staff used a fire extinguisher to move a tiger away from the man , he adds . He is in critical condition at a Bronx hospital , a fire spokesman says .