CHINA / Taiwan, HK, Macao |
Orangutan escapes from accident-prone Taiwanese zoo(AP)Updated: 2007-05-24 10:05 TAIPEI -- A hulking orangutan escaped from his cage and terrified patrons at a nearby restaurant, at the same Taiwan zoo where a crocodile recently chomped off a veterinarian's arm. The latest incident at the Shaoshan Zoo in the southern city of Kaohsiung began Wednesday when the orangutan pushed his way out of his cage and wandered into a nearby restaurant courtyard. It was captured on camera by Taiwanese cable news station TVBS. As zoo officials scurried to bring the animal under control, he gleefully overturned picnic tables and motorbikes, forcing terrified diners to cower inside the eatery. The orangutan was finally subdued when an official shot him in the upper body with a stun gun. He was then carted off for treatment in the scoop of a small bulldozer. Wednesday's incident occurred just six weeks after a 200-kilogram (440-pound) crocodile chewed the forearm off veterinarian Chang Po-yu at the same zoo. The limb was reattached in a seven-hour surgery. Orangutans are native to the forests of Malaysia and Indonesia. They have a shaggy, reddish-brown coat, long arms and no tail. |
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