Malaysian wildlife officers step up search for wayward tiger

Jan 19, 2012, 10:51 GMT

Kuala Lumpur - Wildlife officers have stepped up efforts to track down one of two tigers that allegedly stalked two rubber plantation workers in northern Malaysia, a wildlife official said Thursday.

Nawayai Yasak, director of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks in the state of Perak, said patrols were dispatched to several villages near the Bintang Hijau forest reserve, about 195 kilometres north of Kuala Lumpur, where the encounter occurred Sunday.

'The idea is to drive the tiger deeper into the forest, away from human settlement,' he told the dpa in an email. 'This interface between human and wildlife is common in areas where human development cuts into wildlife habitat.'

One of the tigers, believed to be a 2-year-old female, was killed by civil defence personnel who responded to the plea of help from the two women plantation workers, who were rescued unharmed.

Nawayai said he did not know the exact population of tigers in area, but the 50,000-hectare Bintang Hijau forest can support up to six tigers. He added that the estimated total tiger population in mainland Malaysia is about 500.

He said tigers are considered an endangered species in Malaysia.

Nawayai added that the last confrontation between a tiger and humans he remembered was in July 1998, in an area about 30 kilometres away from where the January 15 incident occurred.