BERUAS: A male clouded leopard was found dead, believed to have been hit by a vehicle at Kilometre 253.3 of the West Coast Expressway (WCE) towards Trong heading to Beruas, here, yesterday.
Perak Department of Wildlife and National Parks director, Yusoff Shariff, confirmed the discovery of the carcass after his department was informed of the incident at 3pm.
He said the clouded leopard, weighing 20 kilograms (kg) is believed to have died last Monday based on the condition of the swollen and decomposed carcass.
"Based on the examination of the carcass, we estimate that the five-year-old Clouded Leopard had died two days prior.
"For your information, Perhilitan has taken action to retrieve and dispose of the carcass," he said when contacted today.
Earlier, a 22-second video went viral on social media showing the carcass of the animal lying on the road barrier and surrounded by flies. For the record, this is the first accident involving wildlife in Section 11 of the WCE connecting the South Taiping Interchange to the Beruas Interchange, which was newly opened on March 12.
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/03/1024260/wce-section-11-now-op... 35.5-kilometer (km) stretch is reported to have two animal passage tunnels or 'animal box culverts' built across the Bubu Forest Reserve for the safe crossing of wildlife.