SIK: It was a terrifying moment for a couple in Kampung Gulau near here upon seeing a clouded leopard in their backyard.
Malaysian Volunteer Department (Rela) member Habsah Paih, 54, said she heard noises coming from her chicken coop located about 70m from her house at about 5.50am yesterday.
“Since it is the rainy season, it crossed my mind that a python might have entered the coop and attacked the chickens. I woke up my husband and using a torchlight, we went to check from afar, not daring to go near the coop.
“At that time, I thought it might be a tiger in the coop, as I had seen its footprints near the house. It startled us to see a clouded leopard, and we immediately called 999,” she told Bernama yesterday.
Habsah said while waiting for the Malaysian Civil Defence Force (APM), her husband went to close a hole in the chicken coop to prevent the animal from escaping.
“We had about 15 chickens in the coop, and now there are only a few left. We used to also rear ducks – about 20 of them – but they disappeared one by one. We discovered the carcass once or twice, but we never considered the possibility of a clouded leopard attacking them. Seeing the animal in the coop really scared us,” she said.
Meanwhile, an APM officer in Sik, Haisul Aishah Mohd Napiah, said the Sik APM Operations Control Centre received a distress call at 6.55am before a team was dispatched to the scene.
