A five-year-old boy was playing by a monkey’s cage when the animal bit off his finger. He was rushed to hospital following the shocking attack.
A monkey has pulled a five-year-old boy’s finger off in a shocking attack at a Portuguese zoo.
The youngster was rushed to the hospital after the incident at Santo Inacio Zoo in Vila Nova de Gaia near Porto.
The Sun reports that the youngster played by the monkey’s cage with his family on Friday morning.
The monkey is said to have bitten the five-year-old’s finger and pulled it from the rest of his hand.
A police officer entered the cage to recover the missing finger before taking the boy to Sao Joao Hospital.
A spokesman for the GNR police force in Porto confirmed the incident had occurred around 11 am and said the monkey had ripped the boy’s finger off. Child and plastic surgery specialists were told to be with the boy at Sao Joao Hospital on Friday afternoon.
It is not yet clear if medics have been able to reattach the boy’s finger.
Santo Inacio Zoo said in a statement zoo the incident occurred as the youngster was feeding the monkey peanuts “in a clear breach of safety measures to protect the public”.
It said it was in constant contact with the child’s family, described as stable.
The statement went on: “The safety plans of zoological parks are created taking into account the risk category of the species, such as size, speed or bite, but also the type of installation where there are several warnings that alert visitors to the safety measures to be followed, namely not to feed or touch animals.”
“All plans implemented aim to ensure, at all times, the safety of keepers, animals, and visitors.”
Santo Inacio Zoo has 600 animals, including the Amur Tiger and Asian Lion.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, it welcomed approximately 1.5 million visitors a year.
The zoo only reopened on Tuesday after being closed for three months.
Zoo staff spoke last month about the behavior of some of the 200 species of animals at the zoo that had changed during the lockdown closure. Vet Carla Monteiro admitted the animals were not getting enough interaction and were sleeping more because there were no visitors.
She said: “There is a change in attitude and behavior that is noticeable in the transition phases when we have visitors, and we no longer have them, and when we start to have them again.”
An investigation into the incident is expected to be launched.
It comes after a pet dog was attacked and eaten by a pack of wolves after its owner accidentally dropped it in an enclosure at a Chinese zoo on Monday.
The horrific moment was captured on video footage, showing the hungry animals mauling the defenseless pooch.
The incident occurred Monday at Wild Wolf Valley, near Changi in northern Xinjiang.
This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.
