Villagers living in fear of tiger

JELEBU: Some 15 villagers in Kampung Esok near here are living in fear of a tiger they believe is devouring their livestock.

The villagers claim they found a paw print along a river and that a bite mark had been discovered on the carcass of a buffalo recently.

Villager Mohd Ghaffar Zainuddin, 52, said numerous livestock had been killed over the past week.

"We are afraid to carry out our daily chores or tap rubber in our smallholdings after the incident," he said here yesterday.

Mohd Ghaffar added that several villagers had encountered the animal while on their way to work in the morning.

He said the animal measured approximately one metre long and was only active in early hours of the morning.

Another villager Mohd Nor Ehsan, 59, said that they had alerted the State Wildlife Department but no action had been initiated so far.

"They only gave a telephone number to contact if we came across the animal again," he added.