The wildlife department in Negeri Sembilan today warned residents to remain indoors as a panther which mauled two men could attack again.

"Until we find and capture the animal, we are advising all the residents here to stay home if possible, especially at night, and to take care that their children don't stray too far," a department spokesman told AFP.

He said the panther, which attacked the two men in a plantation area on Tuesday, would be sent to the nearest zoo once it was caught.

Trader Soh Giok Eng, 75, and an Indonesian labourer, Ardi Darsono, 45, were hospitalised after the attack but were in a stable condition, the New Straits Times reported.

'Very abnormal'

The head of conservation at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Malaysia, Dionysius Sharma, said the attack was "very abnormal" as panthers were usually shy.

"This is a very isolated case and raises my suspicions about what could be happening in its own forest habitat," he said, suggesting human activity might have driven the animal out.

"Something drastic must have happened for it to flee its home and be forced to come out among humans," he said. — AFP