A three-year-old girl in China was reportedly kidnapped by a monkey to a forest, Malaysian news outlet Sin Chew Daily reported on Sunday (Oct 29).
The encounter occurred on Oct 21 at Liupanshui city in Guizhou province when the child's father, surnamed Liu and his mother headed to the farm for work and decided to bring their child along with them.
Leaving the child to rest under a tree, Liu told Beijing Youth Daily: "It was only a minute later when I turned around, I found that the child was missing. We were all very anxious."
Liu said that he then contacted the police.
The local police immediately mobilised a team to search the area where the toddler was last seen.
The party secretary of the village told Chinese media that they joined the police in the search when he received the news that day.
Despite searching high and low, the girl was nowhere to be found.
Found 30m above ground
Having spotted wild monkeys multiple times in the area, Liu suspected that his child might have been kidnapped by one.
"We have had monkeys here before that would come down the mountain from time to time to look for food. If it took the child away, it's hard to find among the grass," he added.
Hence, the search team went into the forest and started calling out the child's name loudly.
That was when the child's mother heard a sound coming from a nearby mountain that sounded like her daughter.
The village party secretary told Chinese media that the police managed to track the child's voice and after more than two hours of search, the toddler was found on a tree near the edge of a cliff.
Fortunately, the child only had a few scratches on her body which according to the the village secretary, looked like monkey fingerprints.
Liu later thanked the police and enthusiastic villagers for their efforts in helping find his daughter.
The village party secretary said that there will be regular patrols conducted near the village to ensure the safety of residents.
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