By Tim Binnall
A wild video circulating online shows the moment that a man at a zoo gets too close to an orangutan and winds up in the mighty creature's unrelenting grasp. According to a local media report, the unsettling incident occurred on Monday at the Kasang Kulim Zoo in the Indonesian city of Pekanbaru. Hoping to produce something viral for his Instagram account, a foolhardy young man named Hasanal Arifin managed to achieve his goal in a manner that he now undoubtedly regrets as the video of his jaw-dropping encounter at the facility has spread like wildfire online as a reminder that it is rather unwise to get too close to the animals while visiting a zoo.
In the footage, Arifin can be seen extending his hands towards the great ape in a somewhat taunting fashion and then soon finds that the 'joke' is on him as the creature reaches through the bars of its cage and grabs hold of the young man's shirt. With an unnerving look of determination, the orangutan begins slowly pulling the terrified zoo patron towards the cage, while Arifin yells out for help and, no doubt, wonders what will become of him should the mighty creature win the worrisome tug of war. Responding to his cries, a second individual runs over to the scene, but wisely keeps his distance from the aggressive creature after it swats him away.
Amazingly, this was just the beginning of Arifin's ordeal as the orangutan releases its tenuous grip on his shirt in favor of something more solid: the young man's leg! Wrapping its long arms around the appendage, the ape refuses to let go, even when the aspiring social media star eventually gets lifted off the ground and turned sideways against the cage as his friend tries to pull him away from the ornery orangutan. Eventually, Arifin manages to be yanked away from the angry animal just as the creature appears to be poised to take a bite out of his bare foot. Fortunately, he was able to escape the situation without being injured and, one presumes, with a newfound respect for the pugilistic primate.
Since being posted to social media on Tuesday, the young man's video has quickly gone viral around the world, though his hopes for online fame appear to have been dashed since most media outlets have failed to identify him as the man who tangled with the orangutan. Be that as it may, one Indonesian website did place Arifin at the center of the misadventure and he has since expressed deep regret for his ape-based antics at the zoo, offering an apology to the facility for crossing the guardrails in order to get closer to the creature. While it's uncertain if the young man will get into any trouble for the ill-advised viral video, one suspects that the sheer terror that he felt while in the orangutan's grip may be punishment enough.