Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

#trending: Orangutan in Indonesia zoo attacks youth filming to put video on TikTok

PEKANBARU, INDONESIA — During a visit to Kasang Kulim Zoo, Mr Hasanal Arifin reportedly hoped to capture humorous footage with an orangutan for his TikTok account. He ended up being attacked by the animal in a video that has since gone viral on social media.

An orangutan at Kasang Kulim Zoo in Indonesia reaching out to grab a visitor from inside its cage.

An orangutan at Kasang Kulim Zoo in Indonesia reaching out to grab a visitor from inside its cage.

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

PEKANBARU, INDONESIA — A youth who wanted to take video footage of an orangutan at an Indonesian zoo for his TikTok account ended up being attacked by the animal. After surviving the attack, he went on to publish footages of the incident and even put up his torn shirt for public view online.

He later apologised to the management of Kasang Kulim Zoo in Pekanbaru, Indonesia.

In a video that went viral on social media, one that surfaced on Twitter on Tuesday (June 7), for instance, a 15-year-old orangutan named Tina can be seen forcefully grabbing a zoo visitor from inside its cage. It pulls in the man as he yells for help and struggles to free himself.

In statements to Indonesian news sites, zoo manager Desrizal confirmed that the incident happened on Monday.

On that day, while zoo officers were on their lunch break, Mr Hasanal Arifin, 19, jumped over the guardrail of the orangutan enclosure without permission and set up a camera — hoping to capture humorous video footage with the orangutans for his TikTok account, Indonesian newspaper Kompas reported.

As seen in the video, after setting up his camera, the youth approaches Tina's cage with outstretched arms, seemingly offering a hug. Tina then lunges forward to grab his shirt and pull him by the leg.

In the chaos, another visitor runs up and begins kicking the orangutan's arms in an attempt to help free the youth from the animal’s strong grip. Tina appears to try biting his foot before eventually letting him go.

Mr Desrizal the zoo manager said that Mr Hasanal put himself in danger by violating the zoo’s rules, but he was not badly injured.

It appears that the youth then uploaded the footage of his struggle online, where it was quickly picked up, circulated and made into memes by other online users. One video clip that was reposted on Twitter amassed more than 10 million views in less than 24 hours.

News site Tribun Pekanbaru reported that he also posted an Instagram Story displaying his shirt that had been torn by the orangutan. He reportedly deactivated his social media accounts later after facing severe backlash for his behaviour.

Social media users have responded with strong reactions, ranging from fear and alarm to amusement.

On Tuesday evening, Mr Hasanal publicly apologised for his actions in a video posted on the Kasang Kulim Zoo's Instagram page.

After being similarly criticised by social media users for its lack of enforcement, the zoo's management also posted Instagram Stories — which remain on a user's account for only 24 hours — to reassure visitors that the orangutan enclosure indeed has a guardrail and signs instructing visitors not to cross it.

The zoo should not be blamed for this incident, Mr Desrizal was quoted saying in the Kompas news report, because the "cage security and SOP (standard operating procedures)" are always in place.

On Instagram Stories, he warned visitors to obey the rules when they are there and keep their distance from the animals.

Kasang Kulim Zoo in Pekanbaru, Indonesia used its Instagram account to show concerned social media users the guardrail and signs around its orangutan enclosure.

Related topics

zoo orangutan Indonesia animal attack Youth TikTok viral video social media Trending

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.