(MY)Wild cat attacks girl at Zoo Negara

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Wild cat attacks girl at Zoo Negara

By Jennifer Gomez

NSTOnline

2007/12/24

 

PETALING JAYA: A 5-year-old girl required 10 stitches on her lips after she was

attacked by a wild cat at Zoo Negara on Saturday.

 

It is unclear which animal attacked Haw Qian Tong. The parents of the girl

claimed it was a puma while the zoo authorities said it was a leopard.

 

Her mother, who only wanted to be known as Haw, is blaming the zoo authorities

for the incident.

 

She also complained that the zoo did not give her daughter first aid treatment.

 

Haw said a puma clawed Qian Tong as she stood with her back to the cage.

 

The victim's father then rushed towards his daughter to free her from the

animal's paws but on seeing him approaching, the animal let the child go.

 

Qian Tong was bleeding from the mouth and had scratches on her cheeks and neck.

 

Zoo Negara director Dr Mohamed Ngah said Qian Tong's parents were to be blamed

for not adhering to safety warnings.

 

When photographers visited Zoo Negara to take pictures of the puma enclosure,

they were shown the enclosure of the spotted leopard by Mohamed instead.

 

In clarifying what animal was involved in the incident, Mohamed said he was

informed by his staff that it was the spotted leopard.

 

He added that there was a wire fencing that went around the leopard enclosure

and beyond that, trees had been planted, creating an additional barrier between

the animal and the visitors.

 

" In addition, there are warning signs informing visitors not to go near the

enclosure and not to stick their fingers through the wire fence, " he said.

 

A Zoo Negara vehicle sent Qian Tong to its panel clinic but the doctor there

advised the Haws to take their daughter to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

 

According to Mohamed, the child was then sent to the hospital in the zoo

vehicle.

 

" We have standard operating procedures to follow and that is what we did in this

case.

 

" We helped to transport the child to the panel clinic and then to the hospital

as we felt first aid was not good enough. "

 

But the trauma for Qian Tong's parents did not end at the hospital.

 

The queue at the emergency department was long and the Haws were told they had

to wait for their turn to be treated.

 

The parents then took Qian Tong to Sentosa Medical Centre and Tawakal Hospital,

both of which did not have the required medical expertise to treat Qian Tong

immediately.

 

Both hospitals, however, provided the victim with basic first-aid.

 

Qian Tong finally ended up at the Sunway Medical Centre after 9pm, five hours

after the incident.

 

[Photo: Haw Qian Tong with scratches and swollen lips after the attack. (Inset)

Is this cat the culprit?]

 

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/Frontpage/2116616/Article/index_ht\

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The Star

December 25, 2007

 

Letters - Opinion

 

Visitors taunting caged animals at zoo

 

I WAS at Zoo Negara last Saturday. It's been l5 years since my first visit.

 

So, I expected Zoo Negara to be more of a safari-like park. How disappointed I

was. Not only were the animals kept in enclosures, most of the time they were so

far away.

 

I was expecting to see the animals up close and personal, but it did not happen.

 

Regarding the leopard, there were two enclosures at the area, one housing the

leopard and the other a cougar (puma). There were so many people at the

leopard's enclosure.

 

They were all close to the fence barrier to get a good view of the leopard. The

leopard was provoked by a group of people there.

 

It did not retaliate at that time, seeing so many people. Probably the crowd

scared him off.

 

There were some people in front of me who tried to provoke the cougar at the

adjacent enclosure.

 

The cougar seemed intimidated and scared. It stayed in its shelter.

 

On the attack on Haw Qian Tong, her parents are partly to blame. I know people

will disagree, but how could you let a five-year-old kid wander so close to the

fence?

 

Zoo Negara had done everything to ensure the safety of its visitors. They put

the safety of its visitors on top of the list.

 

NAEEM,

Subang Jaya.

 

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/12/25/focus/19849941 & sec=focus

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The Star

Monday December 31, 2007

 

Letters - Opinion

 

Pleasant family trip to the zoo but...

 

I WOULD like to share my positive experience at our much-maligned Zoo Negara.

 

When my better half suggested a day out at the zoo, I agreed with as much zeal

as a person going for a root canal appointment at the dentist.

 

However, I was wrong.

 

First of all, courteous staff that manned the ticket counter actually smiled and

thanked me for patronising ‘their’ zoo with my family.

 

Seeing that I was juggling a backpack, two strollers and two hyper

three-year-olds, out popped some polite volunteers who offered to fix those

tricky wristbands on our wrists and pointed out the correct entrance gate for

families with strollers.

 

Once inside, these volunteers blew us away again with their knowledge and polite

manners when fielding our predictable questions.

 

We opted for the tractor/train ride to see the entire zoo first, before

selecting certain sections that needed further scrutiny.

 

The train ride was as pleasant as one can expect, except for the noxious diesel

fumes the tractor emitted throughout the journey. We were also pleasantly

surprised to see some interesting habitats built for these majestic animals,

which was a far cry from the zoo of yesteryears.

 

However, I have a few suggestions to make a visit to the zoo a more pleasant

experience.

 

Use electric powered machines to replace those foul-smelling diesel tractors

that pull the trains around the zoo. Diesel fumes only spoil the ambience the

greenery creates.

 

The commentary on the train as well as during the Multi-Animal Show needs to be

in Bahasa Malaysia and English to cater to both locals and foreigners.

 

Change those ugly rusty iron cages to hold the primates and small mammals with

clear glass or perspex. In this way, visitors have an un-hindered view of these

gorgeous animals, they become easier to clean and the animals are prevented from

ingesting the rust from these vile cages.

 

At sensitve areas of the zoo, have properly uniformed games wardens who have the

authority to check offences such as littering, feeding or abusing the animals.

 

I saw some tourists feeding the gibbons, right in front of a multi-lingual sign

that says, 'Do not feed the animals' and I promptly gave them a piece of my

mind.

 

Make the food outlets responsible for any litter that originates from them. Make

it a point for the shops to remind their customers to throw their litter in

designated trash cans, and if their rubbish is still found on the ground, dock

them with penalties or increases in licence fees.

 

TRIPLE A,

Petaling Jaya.

 

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/12/31/focus/19886840 & sec=focus