AS human beings build more and more highways that cut through what was once pristine rainforest, it would be logical that encounters with wildlife would become more frequent given how these roads pierce a way through their natural habitat.
Having said this, it is unfortunately inevitable that traffic accidents involving these animals will also become more frequent and given the rarity of a lot of these endangered species any video and news of these incidents would go viral rapidly.
It was claimed recently that a sun bear was hit and killed along a stretch of the East Coast Highway running through Terengganu.
Is this true?
VERDICT:
TRUE
A male sun bear was killed after being hit by a vehicle at KM 406 of the East Coast Highway 2 (LPT2) at around 8am on Wednesday (Nov 6).
Terengganu Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) director Loo Kean Seong said the 60kg bear died at the scene due to severe head injuries.
He added that the carcass of the wild animal had been retrieved by Perhilitan officers and buried in an appropriate location.
"Six Perhilitan officers rushed to the scene as soon as the report was received. However, the bear had already died due to severe head injuries.
"I advise the public travelling along the LPT2 to be more cautious, especially at night, to prevent similar incidents from happening," he said when met at Wisma Darul Iman here.
In a separate development, Loo said his department had also received a report about a bear that was seen rolling in pain on the LPT2, believed to have been hit by a vehicle last Sunday.
A video of the incident was also shared on Facebook by a user named Khairul Nizam.
"We dispatched officers to the scene at Kilometre 422 of LPT2 last Sunday, but the bear was no longer there by the time they arrived.
"We believe the bear has returned to the nearby forest. However, people with any relevant information are urged to report it to Perhilitan," he said.
