IPOH: A wandering tiger in the vicinity of the Tonggang Orang Asli Village and Ulu Kinta General Operations Force camp, here since last week, has been successfully captured early today.
Perak Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) director Yusoff Shariff confirmed that the four-year-old male tiger, weighing 90 kg, was successfully captured when a ranger shot it with a tranquiliser gun near the area where the trap was set.
According to Yusof, the team received a report about the presence of the tiger in the Tanjung Damai Resettlement Scheme (RPT) in Tanjung Damai at around 11.30pm last night.
"Upon receiving the report, eight Perhilitan personnel were sent to the location. They attempted to drive away the tiger but failed, so the decision was made to shoot it with a tranquiliser.
"The tiger was successfully captured at 4.30am today, and we believe it is the same tiger in the viral video from a few days ago and the one reported by residents earlier," he said when contacted today.
It was understood that a goat was used as bait to lure the tiger towards the trap area before it was shot with a tranquiliser.
According to Yusoff, the animal was sent to the National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Sungkai for further action, including a health examination.
He also denied the presence of five tigers roaming in the area, as claimed on social media.
"Based on our investigation, only one tiger is roaming in the Ulu Kinta area, specifically covering the PGA camp, Orang Asli Village of Tonggang, Tanjung Damai Resettlement Scheme, and the nearby water treatment plant," he said.
Perhilitan did not rule out the possibility of tigers, believed to have come from the Bukit Kinta Forest Reserve, venturing into the area due to a lack of food sources, particularly wild boars, due to the African Swine Fever outbreak.
