We've all heard terrible stories about what can happen when a person lets themselves into a wild animal's zoo enclosure.
Yet, for whatever reason, people keep doing it.
The latest culprit was a rising social media influencer, who instantly became one more cautionary tale of the consequences that come from sneaking in. The man, identified as Hasanal Arifin, took advantage of staffers having a lunch break to jump over the fence and go into the staff-only area where feeding and cleaning take place.
A video of the man first appeared on Reddit, but it later went viral on Twitter, featuring the man first taunting the orangutan and reaching out his hands toward the animal.
The orangutan tried to grab Arifin's hand and didn't succeed, but he managed to grab him moments later and attempted to flip him over and pull him into the cage.
You can watch the initial video here:
\u201chttps://t.co/6yhHjvDjgT\u201d— san (@san) 1654570887
There's also an additional video that features someone else pulling Arifin away from the cage, and the orangutan visibly makes one final effort to keep the man in his grasp by attempting to put his foot into his mouth.
You can watch that video here:
\u201chere\u2019s the rest\ud83d\ude2d\u201d— san (@san) 1654570887
After sneaking into the area and approaching the cage, the entire incident occurred in 41 seconds, proving just how quickly something like this could go wrong.
Twitter was overwhelmed by the stupidity and lack of consideration for the orangutan's safety.
\u201c@RexChapman People need to respect animals boundaries. Period.\u201d— Rex Chapman\ud83c\udfc7\ud83c\udffc (@Rex Chapman\ud83c\udfc7\ud83c\udffc) 1654615584
\u201c@RexChapman This is why the orangutan enclosures I've been to don't permit the animals to reach out of the enclosure or the humans to reach inside. Seems like a recipe for disaster that will harm visitors and likely end with the animal euthanized.\u201d— Rex Chapman\ud83c\udfc7\ud83c\udffc (@Rex Chapman\ud83c\udfc7\ud83c\udffc) 1654615584
\u201c@BobbyLazer @RexChapman And this whose fault? Not the animal\u201d— Rex Chapman\ud83c\udfc7\ud83c\udffc (@Rex Chapman\ud83c\udfc7\ud83c\udffc) 1654615584
\u201c@RexChapman Some folks have never gotten the memo: don't muck around with animals.\u201d— Rex Chapman\ud83c\udfc7\ud83c\udffc (@Rex Chapman\ud83c\udfc7\ud83c\udffc) 1654615584
\u201c@RexChapman Let's talk about how this guy had his hands OUT and was ready to hold the monkey's hand before all of this started breaking down.\n\nNOT ALL ANIMALS ARE MAGICALLY YOUR FRIEND\u201d— Rex Chapman\ud83c\udfc7\ud83c\udffc (@Rex Chapman\ud83c\udfc7\ud83c\udffc) 1654615584
\u201c@RexChapman I hope he's okay and not too traumatized by the bad behavior.\n\nI'm referring of course to the orangutan.\u201d— Rex Chapman\ud83c\udfc7\ud83c\udffc (@Rex Chapman\ud83c\udfc7\ud83c\udffc) 1654615584
One Zookeeper at the Kasang Kulim Zoo in Riau, Indonesia, agreed with the sentiments shared on Twitter.
“The visitor wanted to take a video [and] create content without permission. He crossed the safety distance barrier."
"This is very dangerous and violates the rules. We have already reprimanded the man. Please take the rules seriously.”
Arifin was reprimanded and removed from the zoo after he was discovered in the enclosure, the zookeeper continued.
“This was idiotic, stupid behavior. It also put himself and others in great danger. I have reminded staff to ensure that no visitors have the chance to do this again.”
Though it's a wonderful experience to see these animals up close, the most considerate thing is to be quiet around them and maintain a safe, respectful distance.
Climbing into their enclosures only makes them feel threatened, especially if they have their young present or had a traumatic past before entering the zoo.
And ultimately, entering the enclosure is just going to mean trouble for the animal, with stress, punishment, and maybe even death.
Arifin was lucky to walk away from the incident with nothing more than a stretched-out shirt and some stress, and the orangutan was much luckier than many animals have been in such a situation.
