TIGER sightings are increasing in Terengganu due to logging, residents of Felda Kerteh 4, Terengganu said.

The endangered creatures have been seen in the plantations with greater frequency since 2019, Felda settler Zulkifli Embong, 54, said.

“I have lost money, as the tigers kill my cows,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Zulkifli said there had been logging near the village, which is next to the Rasau Forest Reserve.

“I think it’s linked to the logging, which is forcing tigers out of their habitat.

“Since our plantation lots are near the forest reserve, they enter our land when they can’t find food.”

While tiger intrusions on human settlements have happened previously, Zulkifli said they have never been as frequent as in the past two years.

While no human-tiger conflict has occurred in his area this year, he said the villagers still want the logging to stop or be brought under better control.

“No livestock has been killed yet this year, so far. Wildlife Department rangers also do regular patrols so we feel a bit relieved.”

From 2019 until June last year, 240 cattle belonging to Felda Kerteh 4 residents were killed.

Despite villagers’ concerns that tigers were driven to desperation for food by logging, Terengganu exco for plantations, commodities and rural development, Azman Ibrahim, denied that logging was a factor.

He even said the cattle deaths were because a mother tiger was merely teaching her cubs how to hunt.

More recently, in May, a post on social media that went viral claimed that a tiger had been sighted in the hills of Hulu Paka, in Dungun.

Tiger sightings have also caused the Terengganu Forestry Department to close public access to the Menderu Waterfall in Kampung Chabang, Kerteh.

Central Forest Spine the answer

The Malayan tiger is fully protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010.

There are only an estimated 150 animals left in the wild, in Malaysia, compared to 3,000 in the 1950s.

Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) president Prof Ahmad Ismail said wildlife-human conflict in forested areas is often due to disturbances to the natural habitat.

“Forests are shrinking more and more and are the reason why settlers are finding themselves more in conflict with wildlife.

“However, the problem can be resolved if the Central Forest Spine (CFS) is preserved,” he said in reference to the corridor project started in 2005, which aims to connect four major forested areas: the Titiwangsa Range, the Bintang and Nakhwan ranges, and the Taman Negara-Eastern Range.

The CFS Master Plan, adopted as part of the National Physical Plan, will on paper enable wildlife to move from one forested area to another safely, and is meant to preserve their natural habitat and feeding grounds.

“If the CFS can be implemented well, there will be a larger habitat for tigers and other wildlife to roam freely, with sufficient food, and keep them away from human dwellings and developed areas,” Ahmad said.

However, he said the plan to create the CFS was far from complete as much work was still needed to connect isolated patches of forests with one another.

“If the government is serious about the CFS, it must work together with the state governments as well as the authorities in charge of forests, agriculture and wildlife.

“The government must also step up its campaign to plant 100 million trees to help the CFS, as this will have a huge impact in restoring our forests.” – June 23, 2022.