Gibbon Attacks Boy After Escaping From Zoo Enclosure
A gibbon attacked two children, including a young boy who was seriously injured, after escaping from an enclosure on a man-made island, at a zoo in southern Malaysia, an official said Thursday.
The male siamang first bit Zukrina Abdul Hadi, a 5-year-old girl on her ankle Tuesday, Malacca Zoo Director Ahmad Azhar Mohammed said. Soon after, the ape attacked a 3-year-old boy and bit off part of his right thigh.
The girl received outpatient treatment, but the boy, Muhammad Afiq Haziq, was hospitalized in serious condition, the Zoo Director said.
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The boy's mother, Anita Sulaiman, told The Star newspaper that her family was relaxing at an aviary park when they heard people screaming and saw the gibbon racing towards visitors. She saw the gibbon rip her son from her husband's arms before biting off a chunk of his thigh.
"I saw my husband grappling with the gibbon. A visitor came to his aid and hit the gibbon, forcing it to release the child," she told the newspaper. "He lost a lot of blood. I fear my son will be scarred and traumatized for life."
“My husband carried him and ran two kilometers to get medication, while I followed with the bits of his thigh in a plastic bag,” she said.
The report said the boy also suffered facial and bodily injuries. Hospital officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
The Zoo Director said the ape was swiftly recaptured and was placed in quarantine. He said it was the first such attack at the zoo, and suspected it may have been caused by "provocation by irresponsible visitors."
When asked by The Star if she saw any visitor provoking the ape, she said, “It appeared all of a sudden. I don't know why it went for my son.”
Malacca Zoo Public Relations Officer, Masri Mohd Arof, extended the zoo's apology to the family: “We will get animal biologists from Kuala Lumpur to probe the attack. We will also investigate how the gibbon crossed over to the park from its colony on a man-made island.”
The siamang is a tailless, black-furred gibbon native to forests in Malaysia as well as Indonesia's Sumatra province.
