130kg tiger killed by car on Malaysian expressway, shocking collision captured on dashcam footage

A wild tiger was hit and killed by a car while crossing an expressway in Malaysia in the wee hours of Thursday (May 16) morning.

The incident happened at the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway near Lentang, reported The Star.

Dashcam footage from the vehicle captured the shocking moment the animal appeared out of nowhere from the right side of the car, before it was struck.

Videos and photos published by Malaysian news sites of the aftermath showed the carcass of the large felid, reported to be around 130kg, lying on the asphalt following the collision.

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A silver-coloured car which hit it appeared to have sustained significant damage to its front bumper and hood.

Director of the Pahang Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan), Rozidan Md Yasin, said that the Malayan tiger is believed to have come from the Bukit Tinggi forest reserve in Bentong, The Star reported.

He added that the accident was believed to have occurred at about 1.20am on Thursday.

According to Harian Metro, director-general of Perhilitan, Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim, pointed out that based on the size of the carcass, the animal was about five years old.

He added that authorities are still investigating the incident, and the carcass has been sent for an autopsy to the National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Sungkai, Perak.

"There are still some wild tigers surviving in the forest reserves near the location. The incident is very sad as the number of tigers in the country is gradually declining," Abdul Kadir was quoted as saying.

The Malayan tiger is a critically endangered species, estimated to number less than 200 in the wild, according to The Star.

The report added that the case is the third vehicle collision involving Malayan tigers in the past year.

A tiger was run over by a trailer on the North-South Expressway near Gua Tempurung in November 2023.

More recently on March 21, a tiger was killed after it tried to cross the West Coast Expressway along the Trong-Beruas stretch.

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candicecai@asiaone.com