The photos actually show a panther crossing a road -- there are no reports of anyone being killed

This article is more than one year old.
Published on July 31, 2019 at 08:00
3 min read
By AFP Malaysia

Four photos have been shared thousands of times in multiple Facebook posts which claim that they show a tiger which killed and ate a man in Malaysia. The claim is false; the photos show a black panther; the local wildlife authority said the animal was photographed crossing the road to a nearby jungle; police said they have no reports of anyone killed by a tiger in the area.

The photos were shared in this Facebook post published on July 9, 2019, which has been shared more than 5,400 times.

The caption of the post, which is written in English and Chinese, translates as: “Highway KL to Pahang. Today in Kuala Lumpur. Towards Kuantan Road. In Pahang State. A small place named Temerloh. Tiger eats people Today in Kuala Lumpur, on a stretch of road towards Kuantan, Pahang, a man was eaten alive by a tiger.”

Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:

Screenshot of misleading Facebook post

Three of the same photos were also shared here on Facebook with an identical claim.

The claim is false; the photos show a black panther; the local wildlife authority said the animal was crossing the road to a nearby jungle.

In an email to AFP about the photos on July 15, 2019, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia (Perhilitan) said: “From the result of our investigation, the black panther was only crossing the highway to move to the next jungle.”

A reverse image search found the same photos, plus an additional two photos, published here on Facebook by another user on June 9, 2019, several hours earlier than the misleading posts.

The caption, written in Malay and English, translates as: “Lucky or unlucky.... rare and endangered species Black Panther.... suddenly cross Highway (I won’t reveal the location because really those who like the species will look) Alhamdulillah managed to snap 3 long distance pictures.. Hopefully this Black Panther will manage to find his real habitat soon....Has anyone ever come across this? Maybe have but only not quick enough to capture a picture, right!!!”

The Facebook user, whose name is Mohd Noor Mohd Arifin, told AFP by Facebook Messenger on July 21, 2019, that he took the pictures.

“I was just driving normally through the Highway and suddenly a black panther crossed the highway and of course I got to slow down and watch the panther,” he said. “After I realise the panther quite a distance like 30-50m from my car then only I remember to snap a photo!!! That’s it.”

He said he did not know of a case in which “any Black Panther ever try to attack human here in Terengganu”.

Local Malaysian-language newspaper Utusan Malaysia published this report with the photos on July 9, 2019, about the black panther sighting.

The report’s headline translates to English as: “LPT2 user bumps into black panther.”

The first two paragraphs reads: “A user of the East Coast Expressway 2 (LPT2) claims to have come across a black panther when using the highway to head to Janda Baik in Pahang this morning.

“It was shared by a man known as MNoor Arifin on his Facebook while calling the happening as a historical moment when having the chance to see the black panther which is an endangered species.”

LPT2 stands for Lebuhraya Pantai Timur 2 in Malay or the East Coast Expressway 2.

Janda Baik is located within the state of Pahang.

Local news site Sinar Harian also published this report about the photos on July 9, 2019.

The report’s headline translates from Bahasa Malay to English as: “Perhilitan investigates the viral black panther at LPT2.”

Police in Kuantan told AFP by phone on July 19, 2019 that they had “no report” of anyone being eaten by a big cat.

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