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An eight month old baby is recovering in hospital after a monkey tore off one of his testicles before running away and eating it.

The distressing attack took place at the Guiyang Qianling Wildlife Park in Guìyáng, the capital of Guizhou province in Southwest China, according to reports.

The mother was changing her son's nappy when the animal attacked, ripping off the testicle before dropping it onto the ground.

An elderly man then reportedly picked up the severed appendage but the monkey snatched it from his hand before scampering away and eating it.

The boy's injury is not life-threatening, Chinese media reports.

Monkey numbers at the zoo are said to have rocketed from around 70 to 500 in the past few years.

The animals are fed three times a day by their keepers.

However, members of the public are understood to like to feed the monkeys too - despite the presence of signs warning against this.

The reports also claim that monthly incidents involving the monkeys at Guiyang, of varying degrees of severity, are now running in the hundreds.