PUBLISHED ONJune 09, 2022 6:09 AMByKhoo Yi-HangA man got what he wished for and went viral — but not in the way he expected.
Hasanal Arifin, 19, hopped an enclosure fence at an Indonesian zoo to record an orangutan to create content for his social media accounts.
But he got more than he bargained for when the orangutan, named Tina, quickly grabbed on to his shirt and held on to Arifin's leg while his friend tried to pull him away from the animal, even kicking the orangutan's hand to try and get it to let go.
Although his uploads have since been removed, mirrors of it still exist — including one on Twitter that has since amassed over 21 million views.
[embed]https://twitter.com/sundaykisseu/status/1534007602517901314[/embed]
After his encounter with this orangutan, Hasanal uploaded footage of the attack to social media.
The 19-year-old even included the aftermath showing the tears on his shirt, Today reported on Wednesday (June 8).
But that's not the end of this story, because social media picked up on it, spawning multiple spoofs of it, including one uploaded to TikTok yesterday that has since gotten over five million likes and more than 41 million views.
@julianadamh ib : mas-mas panik🙏
♬ ha ah tolong - Jul
In this particular TikTok 19-second-long video, user Julianadamh portrayed the orangutan by squatting behind a gate and puckering his lips to make a convincing imitation, grabbing his friend's shirt and leg like in the original video.
A third friend attempts to pull the 'victim' to safety, but it's too little, too late, and the 'orangutan' manages to rip a piece of shirt off.
This humorous parody garnered over 170,000 comments, including one comment by a TikTok user that has received over 400,000 likes: "Oh, this is the original video, I can finally sleep well."
While in the original video, Arifin was lucky enough to get away with his shirt in one — albeit torn — piece, it appeared at one point that the orangutan attempted to bite at his right foot.
In another parody of Arifin's mishap, TikToker Asnawyanurul is grabbed through the balustrade of a flight of stairs, the attacker also puckering his lips in imitation of the orangutan.
@asnawyanurul ♬ ha ah tolong - Jul
Similarly, TikToker Andreysetyawanp clutches his friends shirt through a metal fence, grabbing at his leg and causing him to fall over.
@andreysetyawanp Cocok ga? #patiboyz #masandrey ♬ ha ah tolong - Jul
But some users have gotten creative. A TikTok account with username Grandsaverobgr took the concept and gave it their own spin — instead of an encounter with an orangutan, it was a cashier.
In their video, a man walks up to a cashier who passes him a bill. However, after taking a look at the bill, the man pushes the bill back to the cashier and attempts to flee.
@grandsaverobgr Jangan sampai kaya gini ya, apalagi kalau bawa ayank😩 #haahtolong #orangutan #viral #orangutanviral #hotelier #lambehoteliers #hotel #hotelbogor #fyp #viralditiktok #hitsbogor #sambatanhotelier ♬ ha ah tolong - Jul
The cashier, still behind the counter, grabs his left arm and pulls him in, refusing to let go. The man calls for aid and a woman arrives and tries to pull him away, tugging at his right arm and leg.
While the many parodies of this event on social media downplay the severity of this incident, the Indonesian zoo, Kasang Kulim Zoo, said that this was a serious matter.
"We, the Kasang Kulim Zoo, apologise and hope this doesn't happen again," reads a post on the zoo's Instagram page.
The post also includes a video of Arifin, together with staff from the zoo, solemnly apologising for the incident.
This isn't the first time a youth has gotten into trouble with animals at a zoo while recording themselves for social media.
In Singapore, another 19-year-old performed a backflip inside a white rhinoceros enclosure at the Singapore Zoo, posting his video to TikTok.
He was then charged with two counts of mischief as well as one count of vandalism and criminal trespass.
READ ALSO: Chinese zoo embarrassed after attempting to pass off golden retriever dog as an African lion
khooyihang@asiaone.com