100 comb forest for panther
By DHARMENDER SINGHMetro, 10 Aug 2005

ABOUT 100 people will take part in a three-day expedition to comb the 1,248ha Air Hitam Forest Reserve in search of a panther that has been reportedly sighted along its fringes.
Kuan Chee Heng, who is special assistant to Seri Serdang assemblyman Datuk Satim Diman, said the expedition starting today would include participation of Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan), Forestry Department, General Operations Force, Special Branch, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and members of the Sungai Rasau orang asli community.
Kuan, who attended a briefing on Thursday, chaired by Subang Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Muhamad Fuad Talib on steps to track the animal down, said the representatives had confirmed their participation during the meeting.
He said help from the orang asli was especially important in tracking the animal as they were better acquainted with the forest.
As a safety measure, he said, the GOF would have 40 members taking part in the expedition.
He added that members of the expedition would break up into four groups.
Kuan said at present the expedition was only aimed at identifying the animal and its hunting ground and there were no plans to capture the animal or remove it from the forest reserve.
He said doubts on the need to capture it arose after a boy, who was allegedly scratched by a baby panther, picked the photograph of a wild cat instead of that of a baby panther that was shown to him by UPM staff investigating the attack.
“There are two types of panthers, one sporting an all-black coat and another that has stripes that are similar to that of a wild cat that is found in the same forest reserve,'' said Kuan.
“From the information we have gathered from Perhilitan and UPM, panthers are usually shy and will stay away from humans so the possibility of attacks on residents living at the fringes of the forest reserve is low,” he said.
He said, while keeping in mind the
people's safety, there was also the question of consequences to the ecology of the reserve if the animal was removed. The reserve is used as a study forest by UPM.
Kuan said the police would discuss the matter in detail with the relevant authorities before making a decision.
“The expedition may provide vital information such as how far from the fringes of the reserve the animal lives and if at all it poses a danger to the people living close by. This can be vital in deciding the next course of action,” he said.