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Monday December 20, 2010
Rubber tapper fights off bear
TANAH MERAH: A gritty rubber tapper grappled with a bear for about 15 minutes during which time the animal bit him on his right leg. Osman Salleh, 35, brought an end to the encounter when he finally struck some blows on the animal with his parang.
Osman said he owed his life to the parang and if he had not taken it along he would have died during the attack at Kampung Kuala Balah here on Saturday. “The bear came out from some bushes and caught me by surprise while I was tending to saplings at the plantation at about 4pm.
“It was at least 2m tall and at that time I could not run away. I had to defend myself as it attacked me from the front,” he said at his hospital bed. Osman said he was worried the bear would return to attack him at the plantation again.
Osman added that he had come across bears and even tigers in the vicinity of his plantation but never thought he would be attacked. He said after he had chased the bear away, he called his 70-year-old father, Salleh Mahmud, who was at another plantation about 4km from where the incident took place.
“My father took me home on his motorcycle and later a family member brought me to the hospital for treatment,” he added. State Wildlife and National Parks director Pazil Abdul Fatah said he was aware of the incident, adding that it was rare for a bear to attack a human.
“My men are investigating. There is a possibility that the bear could have attacked the victim because it felt threatened,” he said.
