Babu the chimpanzee, one of the star attractions at Alipore zoo, bit the zoo director’s left thumb while he was trying to feed the primate on Wednesday afternoon.

A wire mesh separated the chimpanzee from director Asis Kumar Samanta.

The zoo director said he suffered a minor cut in his finger because of the bite. “I feed the monkeys every now and then. I know them and they know me. I have earlier been bitten by smaller monkeys as well. It is just a small cut,” Samanta said, adding that he got the wound cleaned and took medicines and an injection.

Chimpanzees living in the wild mostly eat fruit but also hunt for meat. Their main prey are small monkeys. In a part of Africa, chimpanzees are pushing their main prey base — red colobus monkeys — to the verge of extinction, according to a BBC Earth report.

Visitors to the zoo are not allowed to feed animals. The zoo has several boards placed at strategic points spelling out Section 38J of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: “No person shall tease, molest, injure or feed any animal or cause disturbance to the animals by noise or otherwise or litter the grounds in a zoo.”

The boards also mention that any violation could invite a six-month jail term or a fine of Rs 2,000. There is one such board right outside Babu’s enclosure too.