Coexisting with wildlife can be a little overwhelming especially in cities, and humans need to navigate their way with interacting with wildlife.
That was something that motorists in Kluang, Johor, had to deal with.
A motorist, travelling down a dark road stopped his car to take a video of an eerie sight: a tiger, standing in the grass at the side of the road, staring right back at the camera.
No other cars seemed to be passing by in the video, and the road was lit only by the headlights of the car.
After a few seconds of a staredown worthy of any featured in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures, the tiger turned and trudged away.
It continued walking away from the headlights as someone off screen was heard telling others to let the tiger leave first before continuing to drive.
The driver posted the video on a Facebook page titled KHI, short for Kluang Hari Ini, or Kluang.
It is not clear when the video was taken.
The post included a warning for motorists who might need to drive through the area, cautioning them to take care when travelling through the area.
Netizens watching the video speculated on the location where the tiger was spotted, later identified as Jalan Nitar and some made jokes on how the tiger was probably waiting for motorists to hunt like some people would wait outside for their food delivery.
Some commented that the tiger looked a little thin despite its huge frame, which could explain why it showed up at the roadside at night in front of drivers.
It may be fun and games but the comments speculating on the appearance of the tiger belies a sobering fact: wild tigers in Malaysia are dwindling in numbers.
Harimau Boleh! Except not really…
Even though the tiger (or the Malayan tiger) is a national symbol of Malaysia, it’s also an endangered species.
Rapid development of the country, agriculture expansion and widespread hunting has seen the number of wild tigers dwindle to fewer than 150 in 2022.
That’s a lot considering that in the 1950s, Malaysia was estimated to have as many as 3,000 wild tigers.
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright
This has not been the only tiger sighting in the Johor area in recent months.
Around September, a tiger was seen walking around a different area of Kluang in the daytime.
The tiger, which appeared calm and collected, was strolling in the middle of the road before getting spooked by an approaching car and dashed into the nearby forest. This was also posted on KHI.
There was also a report on that same month from two men in Johor who were fishing in a palm oil plantation in Mersing, when a tiger approached them from the forest. The tiger stole one of the men’s bags and ran away, but did not attack the men.
In early October, a tiger was sighted casually hanging out by the side of yet another road near Kluang.
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