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

Fewer than 150 Malayan tigers remain in the wild. That’s why 2,500 volunteers from 38 countries have joined a boots-on-the-ground initiative to protect them

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.