ALOR SETAR - For two months a "thief" had been raiding a poultry
farm and stealing two chickens each night.
The culprit had been preying on farmer Mohd Izham Hussin's broiler
chickens at his fenced-up farm in Kampung Kubang Lintah, Mukim
Jeneri, Sik, about 80km from here.
"I rear between 100 and 200 broiler chickens in the chicken-holding
shed with fencing around it," Mohd Izham said.
"These chickens are ready for the market and have been moved from
my closed house system coops nearby."
He said he lost two chickens from the shed each night and decided
to lay a trap in the shed last Saturday before returning to his
house in Taman Puteri Jaya, Sungai Petani, about half-an-hour drive
away.
"When I reached my farm on Sunday morning, I saw a wild cat in the
trap.
"I informed the Wildlife Department in Sik and asked them to take
the cat away," he said.
Mohd Izham said it would have been cruel to kill the cat just for
eating about 70 of his chickens.
The Sik Wildlife Department officials arrived at the farm yesterday
to check on the animal.
Officer Azmi Mat Nawi believed the animal was a leopard cat, which
is protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act, and added that
the animal would be quarantined and released into the wild in a few
days' time.