Malayan tigers won't attack humans unless threatened - Perhilitan
The Malayan tiger, scientifically known as Panthera Tigris Jacksoni, is the only subspecies of tiger that still exists in the world and the animal is only found in Malaysia.
Following an incident of an Orang Asli man being mauled to death by a tiger in Kampung Sau, near Pos Bihai in Gua Musang on Jan 7, there is a general perception that the Malayan tiger will attack humans when they come into conflict with one another.
Kelantan Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan)...
The Malayan tiger, scientifically known as Panthera Tigris Jacksoni, is the only subspecies of tiger that still exists in the world and the animal is only found in Malaysia.
Following an incident of an Orang Asli man being mauled to death by a tiger in Kampung Sau, near Pos Bihai in Gua Musang on Jan 7, there is a general perception that the Malayan tiger will attack humans when they come into conflict with one another.
Kelantan Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) director Mohamad Hafid Rohani however has refuted this, saying that a tiger would not normally attack humans because it is not its nature to do so.
"A Malayan Tiger will not go near humans, but will run away when it is in conflict with humans or smells them,” he told Bernama recently.
Hafid said the Malayan tigers feed on wildlife in the forest such as wild boar and deer which proved that humans were not food for them.
"Usually Malayan tigers will attack humans when they are threatened by them, such as when they are being hunted and when they lose their natural habitat and food sources.
"They will not attack if they are not disturbed or threatened,” he added.
63 reports received in 2015-2021
A total of 63 reports on tigers was received by Kelantan Perhilitan between 2015 and 2021, he said, and none involved humans mauled to death by a tiger.
“The reports included sightings of the animal or hearing its roar, with the highest number of reports received in 2017 totalling 18, followed by 11 in 2020 and 10 last year.”
During the period, he said, only one tiger was caught, which was last year in Kampung Badak near Pos Bihai, in Gua Musang, and the animal was handed over to the National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Sungkai, Perak.
Perhilitan deputy director-general (Conservation) Fakhrul Hatta Musa said on a talk show recently that from 2011 to 2020 there were 37 cases of seizures involving Malayan tigers.
The seizures included four live Malayan tigers, as well as four dead ones, skin, body parts, skeleton, teeth and claws of the animal.
- Bernama
