APM/Bernama picture
SIK: A couple in Kampung Gulau near here was terrified when they saw a clouded leopard in their backyard early Friday morning (Oct 19).
Malaysian Volunteer Department (RELA) member Habsah Paih, 54, said it was about 5.50am when she heard noises coming from her chicken coop, about 70 meters from her house.
"What came to mind then, now that it is the rainy season, a python could have entered the coop and attacked the chicken. I woke up my husband (Yahya Omar, 62) and using a torchlight, we went to check from afar, not daring to go near the coop.
"At that time, I thought it could also be a tiger in the coop because I had seen its footprints near the house...It startled us to see a clouded leopard, and we immediately called 999," she said when contacted by Bernama on Friday.
Habsah said that while waiting for the Malaysian Civil Defence Force (APM) to arrive, her husband closed a hole in the chicken coop to prevent the animal from escaping.
"We had about 15 chickens in the coop, and now only a few are left. We used also to rear ducks, about 20 of them, but they disappeared one by one. Once or twice, we found the carcass but never thought of them being attacked by a clouded leopard.
"Seeing the leopard in the coop really scares us,” she said.
According to Habsah, a python entered her chicken coop on six occasions last year, and this was the first by a clouded leopard.
Meanwhile, an APM officer in Sik, Haisul Aishah Mohd Napiah said the Sik APM Operations Control Centre received a distress call at 6.55 am and a team was sent to the scene.
The team took 15 minutes to trap the animal, which was then taken to the APM office and handed over to the Wildlife Department for further action. – Bernama
