THE Kelantan government has denied the claim that logging in the state has forced tigers out of their habitat and prowled around the Orang Asli settlements in Gua Musang.

This followed an incident on January 7 where an Orang Asli man was mauled to death by a tiger in Kampung Sau near Pos Bihai.

Deputy Menteri Besar Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said a study should be conducted by the relevant parties to determine the factors that caused the animals to come out of their natural habitat.

He said the incident of a tiger entering a village in the state is not new as the sighting of the animal has been reported in the Jeli district but the incident was never linked to the state’s logging activities.

“This incident is an isolated case. If there are many cases, then it can be said it is due to logging. We cannot say it is because of deforestation that a tiger attacked and killed a person. But if there are three or four tigers encroaching on a village, then it is serious,” he told reporters after a state executive council meeting at the Kota Darulnaim Complex in Kota Baru today.

Amar said this in response to a claim by an Orang Asli representative from the Temiar tribe, Nasir Dollah, 32, that human-wildlife conflict, especially of tigers entering Orang Asli villages in Pos Bihai, occurred due to the state government’s action in approving thousands of forest areas for logging and other activities.

Yesterday, Nasir handed over a memorandum to the Prime Minister’s Office urging Putrajaya to take concrete actions to stop deforestation in Gua Musang.

He blamed the recent fatal attack by a tiger and several sightings of the animal near Orang Asli villages in the district on logging that caused wildlife to lose their habitats. – Bernama, January 12, 2022.