GUA MUSANG, Nov 30 — An Indonesian estate worker, who was found mauled to death by a tiger here yesterday, had chanced upon tiger footprints in a rubber plantation in Kampung Kuala Tol last week.
According to a resident, Sabariah Awang, 63, the man known as Shabaini had seen tiger footprints behind a big rock in the rubber estate.
She said the man, aged 36, stopped at her grocery store before heading to the plantation yesterday.
“Last week, Shabaini had shown me a photograph of the tiger footprints which were taken where he was tapping for rubber. I advised him to be careful when going out to work,” she told reporters when met at Kampung Kuala Tol here today.
“I did not expect this to happen to him. Shabaini had told me that he was saving money to return to his hometown in Aceh, Indonesia.”
Che Sulaiman Che Kob, 65, who reported Shabaini’s disappearance to the police, said he was among the group of residents who launched a search for Shabaini when the latter had not returned home since yesterday.
“The location of the incident is about 400 metres from the main road. We first found the victim’s motorcycle, before finding traces of blood in the area and his pants not far from the place.
“We were afraid to go any further so waited for the Department of Wildlife Protection and National Parks (Perhilitan) and police to arrive and conduct a search operation,” he said.
He hoped Perhilitan would take quick action to catch the tiger.
“Residents are afraid to go out to tap rubber which is a source of income for nearly 200 families here,” he said.
Yesterday, Shabaini’s body was found with injuries to his neck and lower body, while his right hand and two toes were missing.
The incident marks the third tiger attack this month. On November 12, a Myanmar man Ahka Soe Ya, 22, was found dead at 1.30pm and was believed to have been attacked by a tiger in a rubber plantation in Kampung Meranto here.
Some 48 hours prior to that, the body of an Indonesian man, Lalu Sukarya Yahya, 42, was found in a bad condition in a forest reserve in Kampung Meranto. The man was also believed to have been mauled by a tiger.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday (November 28), residents of Kampung Batu Papan, which is situated about two kilometres (km) from Bandar Baru Gua Musang, claimed to have heard the repeated roars of a tiger.
Sufiah Yahya, 58, said she heard the tiger’s roars while in her tapioca plantation, adding that her two sons also heard the roars but in different areas of the plantation.
Resident Abdullah Muda, 63, said that for the past month, about 1,000 residents here have been on high alert after a tiger was spotted at the entrance to the village.
He also said that the residents had lodged a complaint to Perhilitan.
“This village is located near the Batu Papan Permanent Forest Reserve and it is possible that wild animals such as tigers strayed into the area of ??the residents’ houses in search of food,” he said.
“We hope that efforts to catch tigers can be done to ease residents’ concerns because there have been tiger sightings in the village,” he added.
Meanwhile, state assemblyman for Galas, Mohd Syahbuddin Hashim said the presence of a tiger roaming in the district has created an atmosphere of insecurity, and people are living in fear.
“Therefore, a special team proposed by the Kelantan Menteri Besar’s Department and Kelantan State Secretary’s Office (SUK) needs to be established immediately to help the agencies involved deal with this matter.
“We hope that efforts to protect the habitat of these animals will be included in the RM11 million allocation from the state Budget 2024 presented recently for the purpose of ecological development,” he added. — Bernama
