Man at S'pore zoo swings bag at macaque for taking bread from child, bag hits child's face

After a macaque took a slice of bread from a child, a man reacted by swinging his bag at the animal to chase it away — only for the bag to ricochet and end up in the kid's face.

The animal managed to flee into the canopy.

A video of the encounter, which appeared to have taken place at the Singapore Zoo in Mandai, was posted to TikTok on Sep. 28.

Encounter

In the eight-second clip shared by user @arandompaul, a child wearing a bucket hat was seen watching on as a macaque leapt off the ground and onto a fence in front of him.

The macaque appeared to have a slice of bread gripped in its mouth as it paused atop a signage frame.

Off-camera, a man, in a blue jersey and with what looks to be a loaf of bread firmly grasped in one hand, entered the fray.

As he stepped forward towards the macaque, he wound up his left arm before swinging a blue bag at the animal.

The bag hit the sign with a thud just as the macaque leapt behind and into the canopy.

It was not clear from the video if the bag made contact with the monkey.

The bag, however, ricocheted off the sign and flung into the child's face, knocking him backwards.

A couple of bystanders off-camera could be heard expressing their disapproval at the behaviour.

One man was heard hollering at the man in blue, while several woman were heard telling the man that he "can't do that".

Bystander's account

Speaking to Mothership, the TikToker, who goes by the name Paul on the platform, shared that everything was ordinary prior to the incident, with park guests laughing and videoing the macaque.

"The boy was carrying the food and the monkey jumped on him and grabbed it," the 25-year-old, who was travelling for work and visited the zoo in his free time, said.

"Out of nowhere, the guy came and [swung] at the monkey," Paul said.

He shared that he assumed the man was the boy's father.

"Everyone was really mad at him," he recalled.

According to Paul, the incident took place "on the monkey walk, right before the elephants".

The man in blue didn't respond to the crowd afterward.

Reminders for safe visit to the Zoo

Responding to queries from Mothership, a Mandai Wildlife Group spokesperson highlighted that the "varied landscapes of the Mandai Wildlife Reserve" are also home to a wide range of local wildlife, including the long-tailed macaque in the video, colugos and straw-headed bulbuls.

Signages and advisories are found in its wildlife parks to impart information about general etiquette around animals, the spokesperson pointed out.

"These include reminders to refrain from eating as visitors walk around our parks, keeping belongings such as any food items in a well-packed bag, keeping a distance from wild macaques, and to avoid making eye contact with them," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also mentioned that native wildlife like the macaques have enough food in the wild.

Visitors should use the monkey-proof bins around Mandai's parks to ensure that "no food item is a temptation" to the native wildlife which share the park's landscape.

Wildlife guides are also deployed to walk the parks to help minimise negative interactions between visitors and local wildlife.

"We want to ensure that all our guests, and the animals around them, experience positive interactions," the spokesperson added.

Top image via @arandompaul / TikTok.