DUNGUN, Dec 29 — Tigers preying on cattle belonging to 30 settlers at Felda Kerteh 4, 38km south of here, have resulted in losses of over RM150,000 to the owners this year.

Felda Kerteh 4 manager, Mohd Azimi Hassan said 35 cows had died or were missing due to attacks by tigers since January.

"The attacks started in 2018, but they stopped for quite a long time before resuming in January and the attacks have become more frequent since the beginning of this month.

"Latest on Sunday, five farmers lost almost RM15,000 after five cows belonging to them were lost believed to be due to being preyed upon by tigers,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.

A livestock owner, Che Man Abdullah, 68, said he found tiger pug marks while looking for a cow that did not return home last Sunday.

 "It is very worrying. It is not just about the cows but this involves our lives too. In the past, the attacks took place only on the fringe of the forest.

‘’However, now the tigers dare to encroach and attack in the areas close to the scheme’s plantations and we are always around the plantation areas,” he said.

Che Abdullah fervent hoped the tigers could be caught immediately to prevent any untoward incident from taking place.

Meanwhile, the Terengganu Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Wildlife) director, Dr Abdul Malek Mohd Yusuf when contacted by Bernama said that his personnel had been monitoring at the scene continuously since receiving a complaint on Nov 24.

"Two tiger traps and a camera have been installed in the relevant areas. We have also discussed with the settlers to pen up their cows because if they is still left free, the effort to catch the tigers will be difficult as they can still attack the cows which roaming freely, "he said.

He also advised the public not to take any action to kill or drive away the tigers instead to channel information to the hotline 1800-88-5151 if they come across the animals.

"The tigers may have come from the Rasau Forest Reserve ... I have met and discussed with the livestock owners on moving the traps to the latest area of the attack that took place last Sunday if necessary,” he said

He also did not rule out the possibility of more than two tigers involved in the attacks in the Felda scheme based on the pug marks found so far. — Bernama