On the cat walk: how to follow in a tiger’s footsteps in the forests of Malaysia

Cat Walk guide Adi and Mycat conservation officer Hairiel Muhamad Nor lead the group though the forest in Malaysia’s Sungai Yu ecological corridor on their mission to help the tigers. Photograph: Anne Pinto-Rodrigues

Braving bloodsucking leeches and the blazing Malaysian sun, four volunteers trudge along the heavily forested Marcus trail in Malaysia’s Sungai Yu ecological corridor, which plays a crucial role in connecting the two largest forested landscapes in the country – the Titiwangsa mountains and the 130-million-year-old Taman Negara rainforest, the largest national park in the country.

The trek is part of a boots-on-the-ground initiative called the Cat Walk, which engages volunteers in anti-poaching patrols and reforestation work for the conservation of the Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni), a sub-species found only in the forests of Peninsular Malaysia.