"Just for fun" is what a teenager said about shooting dead a caged monkey in Sitiawan recently, a recording of which went viral on social media.

Perak police chief Razarudin Husain said the 18-year-old boy also admitted that he had trapped the monkey in a banana orchard for damaging crops.

“The teenager admitted that he took his father’s gun while he was sleeping in the shed of the orchard on the day of the incident,” he told a press conference at the Manjung police headquarters here today.

Razarudin said the teenager was arrested together with his father, who is also the owner of the gun, at their residence in Taman Kenangan at 9.20pm yesterday.

Both have been remanded from today until May 26 for further investigations under Section 39 of the Firearms Act 1960, and Section 428 of the Penal Code for mischief by killing an animal.

Razarudin said police also seized a black Glock 42 pistol, a gun holster, 12 bullets and the father's firearm permit.

In the incident between 10am and 11am on May 18, the teenager fired one shot at the caged monkey before tossing the cage and the carcass into a river in Bota.

Razarudin said the suspect's father admitted that the person in the video looked a lot like his son.

“Initial investigations found that this is the suspect’s first case, and we have not been able to ascertain if the teenager has mental problems, but further investigations will be carried out.

“We advise licensed firearm owners to be more careful with their weapon and to keep it in a safe place not accessible by their children.

"In this case, the suspect's father said he did not know the firearm was taken by his son,” he said.

Razarudin said this incident should not have happened it was not only a case of misuse of a firearm but also animal abuse.

The 19-second video shows the teenager shooting the monkey after asking the animal to call him ‘baby sayang’, an act which received widespread condemnation from netizens.

- Bernama