Zoo visitor gets too close, finds out how strong orangutans are

A video out of an Indonesian zoo captured a terrifying encounter between a risk-taking man and an orangutan after that man messed around and found out.

The incident was given the blessing of our fact-checking Orwellian gods, with Snopes blessing the veracity of the footage that shows a man getting too close to a zoo cage housing orangutans and one of the animals suddenly grabbing his t-shirt through the bars and holding on for dear life.

Amid cries of terror from the target of the ape’s affection, bystanders tried to help him break free of the animal’s immensely strong grasp. A dramatic tug-of-war ensued, with the beast soon taking the man by the leg and lifting him with ease. A person is seen fruitlessly trying to kick the orangutan’s hands to break its grip.

https://twitter.com/sundaykisseu/status/1534007602517901314?s=20&t=ifAWGQSszjb7r9g_FqQi5g

Snopes reported that this video was filmed on June 6, 2022, at the Kasang Kulim Zoo in the province of Riau. The orangutan, named Tina, grabbed the zoo visitor when he “got too close to her cage.”

“According to riau.suara.com, another Indonesian news site, the visitor, a man named Hasan Arifin, had broken the zoo’s rules by climbing over a barrier that normally separates the animals from the visitors in order to get a video,” the so-called fact-checking site added.

The man is eventually pulled from the grasp of the orangutan without a second to spare, as the beast was about to chomp down on his foot:

There were reportedly various “do not cross” signs on an outer barrier around the orangutan’s cage.

“I apologize to the Kasang Kulim Zoo for crossing the fence and I apologize for the viral video,” the hapless victim said afterward, according to Snopes.

Tom Tillison

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