The Star 3 Sep 12;
PETALING JAYA: People must be careful and abide by regulations when entering forests, be they state parks or forest reserves, to avoid any harm, said the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS).
Its communications head Andrew Sebastian said there was a reason why strict rules were in place.
“The laws are there to protect both wildlife as well as humans. That's why there are state parks for eco-tourism and guides to keep people safe,” he said.
He was commenting on the incident on Friday at the Royal Belum State Park where rubber tapper Musa Ismail, 56, was gored to death by a seladang.
Musa was believed to have illegally entered the state park along with two friends to lay fish traps.
The seladang had earlier charged at the tapper's two friends. One escaped unhurt while the other suffered broken limbs.
Sebastian urged the authorities to step up enforcement to deter and address poaching issues in the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex.
He said it was rare to hear of incidents regarding the seladang, despite it being an extremely large mammal weighing an average of one tonne.
The seladang is also one of the most endangered mammals in the world and is listed as totally protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010.
It is highly prized by poachers for its meat, skull and horns.
Meanwhile, the Jenderak Selatan Wildlife Conservation Centre, a seladang sanctuary in Pahang, is in the process of releasing the Malayan seladang back into the wild.
Seladang kills man, hurts another
Roshidi Abu Samah New Straits Times 3 Sep 12;
TRAGEDY IN ROYAL BELUM: They had gone into the forest on a fishing trip
GRIK: A FISHING trip on National Day by three men ended with one of them killed and another suffering serious injuries after a seladang attacked them in Hulu Air Pasir in Banding near here.
The third man escaped unhurt in the 6pm incident on Friday.
Grik district police chief Superintendent Abdul Manab Baharum said Musa Ismail, 56, from Felda Bersia, who suffered injuries to his abdomen, died 21/2 hours after the attack.
"Isa Abdullah, 24, from Kampung Kenayat suffered a broken left leg and left arm.
"Abd Mohd Sharifudin Abd Manas, 35, escaped unhurt."
Manab said Musa's body had been sent to the Grik Hospital for a post-mortem while Isa was being treated at the same hospital.
He said the men were descending a hill to go to a nearby river when they stumbled upon the animal coming from the opposite direction.
Manb said the seladang or Malaysan gaur, which can weigh up to a tonne, immediately charged at them and gored Musa.
The animal then chased Isa and trampled on him after he fell while trying to flee.
Manab said Isa called his friend, Arshad Din, about the incident at 8.45pm on Friday.
Arshad then reported the matter to the Bersia police station.
Manab said all the victims were brought out from the forest by a search and rescue team at 6am yesterday.
"Initial investigations indicated that the men had entered the Royal Belum Forest at 3pm on Friday via an illegal route at Km68.4 of the East-West Highway."
Perak Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) director Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim said under normal circumstances, a seladang would run away and avoid confrontation with humans.
He said based on the department's experience, the animal would become aggressive only if it had a young calf or when it felt threatened or injured.
"We will be conducting an investigation and would like to question the survivors.
"We also would like to know why the seladang attacked them and what they were doing in the forest."
Seladang is a protected wildlife under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010.
A Grik Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said Friday's incident was the second involving a seladang in the district in a decade.
"A few years ago, a man was killed after he was attacked by an injured seladang."
