14 Sep 2007 - After camping
for four days in the dense forests of Temengor
Forest Reserve in the northern part of Peninsular
Malaysia with Mark Rayan Darmaraj and Shariff
Mohamad, two field biologists from WWF-Malaysia,
and Samir Mansingh from WWF-Nepal, we stopped
near a settlement inhabited by the Orang
Asli.
The indigenous Orang Aslis live in small
camps in the forests where they fish and
hunt with the help of blow pipes and poison
arrows.
While taking a break, Mark offered a cigarette
to an Orang Asli who stopped to check out
our jeep. Orang Asli are fond of tobacco
and the cigarette proved to be a good ice
breaker. After a few puffs, our new acquaintance
told us about a fresh wild boar kill that
he had come across the previous evening
on the bank of a river. He also told us
that he saw some tiger tracks near the kill.
The Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni)
was only identified as a separate sub-species
from the Indo-chinese tiger in 2004. As
most of the lowland forests on the Malay
Peninsula have been lost to rubber and oil
palm plantations, the tiger has been pushed
into the upland forests. It is estimated
that there are at least 500 individuals.
Seeing one in the wild is extremely rare.
Caught on camera
Excited by the news, we offered the Orang
Asli another cigarette and asked if he would
take us to the site. A short 20-minute walk
off a logging road through leech infested
scrub took us there.
The dead boar was lying on the river bank.
No sight of the tiger, although the vegetation
on the river bank was dense and could camouflage
just about anything, even a 120-kilogramme
predator.
Despite the risk, we dragged the boar and
tied it to a tree. We then set up a hidden
camera and left the site.
Two hours later a male Malayan tiger appeared
in front of the camera. One minute later,
the tiger and its kill were gone.
Although capturing this particular tiger
on camera was by chance, WWF is using camera
traps in several parts of Malaysia and elsewhere
to document tigers in their natural habitat.
Habitat loss and poaching remains an immediate
threat to most Asian big cat species.
* By Bivash Pandav, WWF International Tiger
Program Leader
