Harrowing experience: Muhammad Zulhilmi telling of his ordeal with wife Nurul Izzati Syafiqah Suria Iskandar, 23, by his side at their home in Kampung Lembaga, Gua Musang. — Bernama
GUA MUSANG: A man miraculously escaped with only minor scratches after his motorcycle collided with an endangered tiger in a rare and bizarre incident during an ambush along Jalan Gua Musang-Jeli.
Orchard planter Muhammad Zulhilmi Mokhtar, 26, recounted his harrowing experience at 9.30pm on Monday.
He described how, on a dimly lit, forested road, the tiger unexpectedly sprang from the bushes on the right side and struck the front tyre of his motorcycle.
“The incident happened as I rode toward Sungai Terah to play badminton. It was a dark and hilly road with no streetlights. Suddenly, I saw the tiger before it knocked down my motorcycle.
“After falling off my motorbike, I got up and ran as fast as possible for some 100m to get help from other road users. I also turned on my mobile phone light,” he said as he retold his astonishing tiger tale to reporters at his home in Kampung Lembaga yesterday.
He said the crash left him injured on his right eyebrow and his left leg.
Muhammad Zulhilmi said he was rescued by a driver passing the road and was taken to Hospital Gua Musang for treatment.
“I am not sure if the tiger was attacking me or was simply crossing the road because the location is in a forested area,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Kelantan Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) director Mohamad Hafid Rohani said his office had received information about the incident.
“We have been to the incident scene and are still investigating the crash.
“The traces of fur on the victim’s motorcycle have been sent to the laboratory to confirm if the animal involved was indeed a tiger,” he said.
