WAS it a good idea house a gibbon on a island at Kuala Lumpur’s Malacca Zoo? No. The gibbon, named Siamang, escaped his island and roamed the zoo. He grabbed hold of a three-year-old Muhammad Afiq Haziq, bit into his thigh and scratched his face and body. Earlier, the gibbon had bitten five-year-old Zukrina Abdul Hadi on the ankle. The fear  is that Muhammad Afiq’s leg might need to be amputated.

Says Muhammad Afiq Haziq’s mother Anita Sulaiman

“I fear my son will be scarred and traumatised for life. He has lost a lot of blood. My husband carried Muhammad Afiq and ran two kilometres to get medication, while I followed with the bits of his thigh in a plastic bag.”

She adds:

“It appeared all of a sudden. I don’t know why it went for my son.”

Malacca Zoo public relations officer Masri Mohd Arof issues an apology, adding: “Gibbons usually will not attack unless provoked.”

Does being imprisoned on an island in a zoo constitute provocation?