2 men encounter tiger while fishing in Johor, it ‘steals’ bag containing iPhone & fishing gear

2 men encounter tiger while fishing in Johor, climb tree to call for help

An ordinary fishing trip in Johor turned dangerous after two friends ended up in a close encounter with a tiger.

Harian Metro reported that the incident took place in the town of Mersing in Malaysia on 11 Sep.

Mr Nazeri Iskandar said that once a week, he and his friend would go to the same forested spot in a palm oil plantation to fish.

On that Wednesday, however, the 33-year-old had just gotten three minutes into fishing when his friend came face to face with a tiger after he tried to retrieve their bag.

The second man stumbled back in sheer terror, and Mr Nazeri hurriedly called out for him not to panic. He instructed his friend to face the “savage” tiger, and both parties engaged in a standoff.

Mr Nazeri described the tiger as being waist-high and as long as a motorcycle.

Scared but with no way to outrun the tiger, Mr Nazeri stood his ground and put his faith in Allah. He softly recited a prayer from the Quran.

A few moments later, the tiger bent down, picked up the backpack that was on the ground, and walked away from them. However, the big cat did not entirely leave them out of its sight.

According to Mr Nazeri, it lay down a bit further ahead.

The two men then began to back away from the tiger’s location, making sure to keep quiet and move slowly. They climbed up a tree for safety and called for help, which arrived half an hour later.

Tried to look for bag the next day

A relieved Mr Nazeri said that he had previously heard tiger calls when fishing but had not encountered one until that “unforgettable” incident. He warned locals to be careful around the forested areas due to the tiger.

The day after the incident, the two friends returned to the plantation to look for their ‘stolen’ backpack, which contained an iPhone, water, and some fishing equipment.

They were unable to find the bag, which had been taken away by the big cat, reported Bernama. However, some of the fishing equipment had fallen out of the bag, which they retrieved.

Mr Nazeri also uploaded the video of the encounter to TikTok, garnering over 2.5 million views.

The director of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Johor, stated that several department members had gone to the site to investigate the incident.

Also read: Malayan tiger dies after getting hit by vehicle on M’sia expressway

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Featured image adapted from @nazrie_iskandar on TikTok.