Food deliveryman almost ends up in tiger's jaws

KUALA TERENGGANU: A food deliveryman alleged that he was almost attacked by a tiger in Taman Bersekutu, near Dungun, 69 kilometres from here, last night.

Mohd Shafiq Mamat, 27, said he was on his way home to Taman Permint Indah in Dungun after delivering food in the area when the incident took place at 8.40 pm.

"Suddenly, I caught sight of a tiger on the right side of my motorcycle and it was trying to pounce on me. I immediately revved up the throttle and rode as fast as I could to save myself.

"I recited the Shahadah (the first pillar of Islam) repeatedly and prayed that no untoward incident would happen.

"I managed to glance back at the tiger which was only about five metres from me then. Fortunately, it stopped chasing," he told Bernama today.

Mohd Shafiq, who been working as a food deliveryman for the past two years, said it was the most terrifying experience he had gone through to date and admitted he was still traumatised by what happened.

He estimated that the tiger was bigger than his motorcycle.

He said the Village Development and Security Committee (JPKK) of Taman Bersekutu had lodged a report with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) of Terengganu for further action.

Meanwhile, state Perhilitan director Loo Kean Seong said the staff of the department had gone to the location to conduct an investigation and carry out monitoring activities.

"I hope such incidents will promptly be reported to Perhilitan, not just shared and viralled on social media, to facilitate investigations," he added.

-- BERNAMA