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.
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 girls 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.
My husband saw the incident and rushed to the enclosure before the
leopard let her go.
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 zoos 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 DAPs secretary-general Lim Guan Eng
yesterday.
Qian Tongs 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 leopards 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 zoos 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 Manjas enclosure, and
today a mandarin orange, he said.
Asked if the zoo would compensate the girls 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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