Monday December 24, 2007
Girl clawed by leopard
By ELIZABETH LOOI
KUALA LUMPUR: A five-year-old girl was clawed by a leopard at Zoo Negara on Saturday, the first such incident at the zoo.
Haw Qian Tong, who is now in hospital, was clawed from the back and suffered injuries to her neck and mouth.
However, zoo officials are puzzled how the incident could have happened as there is a barrier that prevents visitors from getting too close to the leopard's enclosure.
The girl’s mother, who only wanted to be known as Mrs Haw, 36, said the incident happened around 4pm when the leopard caught hold of the collar of her dress.
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Five-year-old Haw Qian Tong recovering at the Sunway Medical Centre after being attacked by a leopard at Zoo Negara on Saturday. The attack by Manja (inset) left her with a swollen upper lip and scratch marks on the neck. |
“There are scratches on her neck and back but we later realised that there was a cut in the palette of her mouth too,” she said.
She said they went to the zoo’s office for help but were told to go to a clinic in Taman Melawati, next to the zoo. The clinic referred them to Kuala Lumpur General Hospital.
“The queue at the hospital was too long, so we decided to go to a private hospital. We went to Tawakal and Sentosa Hospital, but they told us that my girl would need a plastic surgeon, so we finally took her to Sunway Medical Centre at around 9pm,” Haw told a press conference organised by DAP’s secretary-general Lim Guan Eng yesterday.
Qian Tong’s cousin, Haw Zhi Ping, 10, said: “The leopard tried to reach at another cousin and me but it failed. It got Qian Tong on the second try.”
The Star visited the zoo and found that the leopard’s enclosure was barricaded with a cable fence almost a metre high and about a metre away from the enclosure. There was also a sign that warned visitors not to touch the barriers.
The zoo’s director, Dr Mohamad Ngah, said the leopard was four-year-old Manja.
“I will meet the parents tomorrow (today) to find out exactly how it happened,” he said.
Dr Mohamad said visitors sometimes irritated the animals by throwing objects at them.
“Some people throw stones at crocodiles to see them move. Yesterday (Saturday), we found an umbrella inside Manja’s enclosure, and today a mandarin orange,” he said.
Asked if the zoo would compensate the girl’s parents, he said no. Instead, he said, they could take legal action against the parents for allowing the girl to trespass the barrier.
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