KUALA LUMPUR: There was an uproar on the Internet today over the death of a tiger which was hit by an MPV while crossing the East Coast Expressway Phase 2 (LPT2).
A picture of the carcass, propped up by an unidentified man, with a highway authority worker next to him showing a thumbs up sign, earned the wrath of social media users.
Facebook user Andrew Han posted:
"Why is he showing a thumbs up? He should be sad because this animal is now almost extinct"
Many social media users called on the authorities to make proper crossings for wildlife, posting pictures of animal crossings and bridges which had been built in other countries to enable animals to cross highways safely.
"The poor tiger. Other countries can build animal bridges for wild animals to cross our highways safely. Why cant we have the same?," said Facebook user Lina Samsudin.
The tiger died on the spot in the incident which occurred at 1am. The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) reported that the tiger, which was pregnant with two foetuses died due to massive internal injuries.
Facebook user Anna Dharma posted:
"Poor thing Malaysian tigers are at the brink of extinction worst still 2 cubs . What a waste really feel sad . We need to implement some precaution so this will never happen again".
Meanwhile, the car owner whose car hit the tiger refuted claims by some netizens claiming he deliberately hit the tiger.
The driver, Syahrin Abdul Aziz took his disappointment to social media.
"How did I deliberately hit the tiger?" he questioned his accusers.
Syahrin, who is a professional photographer by trade, also said he felt sorry that the tiger was pregnant, saying "it adds up to my sadness for the poor tiger."
In another Facebook post which garnered more than 500 likes and 350 shares, Syahrin related the incident in detail.
"It was dark as I drove East-bound heading towards the Ajil exit. There were no other motorists within 500 metres of my car. At KM320 (of the highway), it was totally dark and there was still no other vehicle on the road.
"The rain was heavy and the wind was strong. I slowed down my speed to around 100 to 120 km per hour," he wrote.
Syahrin further explained that at KM321.1, he was startled by the tiger which sprinted across the road in front of his car.
However, he said he couldn't stop his car in time as the tiger was only five metres away.
"It was too close. I couldn't do anything and accidentally ran into it.
"Still in shock, I stopped my car on the right lane for a while before I decided to continue driving 100 meters from the area as I was afraid that other tigers would be nearby," he said.