Parents insist daughter was attacked by puma

KUALA LUMPUR: Haw Qian Tong has been making the news after she was attacked by a big cat at Zoo Negara last week.

The zoo said it was a leopard. Her parents disagreed, claiming it was a puma.

"They have been misleading the public. We didn't even go to the leopard's area," said Qian Tong's father, Haw Kim Chuan, 36.

He said the zoo was trying to cover its negligence because the puma's enclosure did not have a buffer to prevent visitors from getting close to the gate.

"They have a wire fencing that went around the enclosure except at the gate. It was only after the incident that they put up a fence and flower vases there to create a barrier," he said.
Haw said his 5-year-old daughter was standing at the gate when the puma clawed her cheek and neck and caused her mouth to bleed.

At a press conference arranged by Seputeh DAP MP Teresa Kok yesterday, Qian Tong was able to smile and eat chocolates despite receiving 10 stitches on her upper lip.

Her mother, Koh Ming Choo, 28, said their daughter was having sleepless nights and kept pointing to the picture of a puma when asked which animal had attacked her.

The parents were upset over zoo director Dr Mohamad Ngah's statement that they were negligent.

Dr Mohamad said Qian Tong's parents had told his officer that a leopard attacked their child.

"This is what they said. We did not mislead the public," he said yesterday.

He said there was no eyewitness to the incident as it happened during the time when the staff swapped shifts.

Dr Mohamad said unlike the leopard, the pumas, Shadow and Anuia, would not go close to humans.

"It's their habit to stay far away from the public. How could it be the puma then?"

Asked about the barrier, Dr Mohamad said the wire fencing was there all the time.