Tonga Volcano Eruption, Tsunami And Strange Animal Behaviour

 There has been a huge undersea earthquake in Tonga (in the South Pacific) which has caused a minor tsunami and some damage around the Pacific.  Here is the news:

• Tsunami fears in Pacific abating after volcanic blast
• Tsunami waves of more than 1m were observed in California 
• following massive underwater volcanic eruption in Tonga 
• volcano 60km north of Tonga’s capital of Nuku’alofa erupted 
• entire island nation hit by tsunami as high as 0.8 m 
• Pacific islands, US, Japan observed tsunami, no reports of major damage 
• 1m tsunami reached New Zealand
• more than 1m in Vanuatu, as well as Chile
• Alaska, California waves more than 1m observed
• Tidal waves along Japan’s Pacific coast 

Over the past month we have also seen highly unusual tiger activity in Gua Musang and Perak.

Over the past month three tigers have been seen walking together around a number of Orang Asli villages in Gua Musang. Sadly one Orang Asli was killed by one of the tigers which was itself shot and killed by Forest Rangers shortly thereafter.

Here is a short video of the three tigers:

Firstly you can see that tiger eating a blue plastic bag.  That is really not a good thing. The toxic plastic bag can certainly mess up the poor tiger's  health. 

Why did three healthy tigers (none of them were injured, including the tiger that was shot after it had mauled the Orang Asli man) venture out of the jungle together and so close into human habitat? And for so long? Three tigers together. It is quite impossible for all three tigers to be injured or sick at the same time. 

The three tigers had been roaming the villages since the first week of December 2021. Plus the tiger that mauled the Orang Asli  (around 8th January 2022) did not attempt to eat the victim.  Meaning it was not sick or injured that it could not catch wild prey. 

After mauling the Orang Asli the tiger did not run away from the village people who set out to look for the tiger. The Orang Asli also threw spears of which one spear struck the animal. Then the Forest Rangers came and promptly shot the tiger which again did not attempt to run away. Instead it "ran towards" the Forest Rangers. It is not clear if the tiger 'charged' against the Forest Rangers. 

Even after the tiger had been shot dead the other two tigers were still hanging around the Orang Asli village. The Orang Asli people in Gua Musang also said that about the same time (January 8th 2022) another tiger (no. 4) had entered another Orang Asli village just across the border in Perak.

So it looks like at least FOUR tigers across Gua Musang and Perak have been behaving quite strangely. The tigers were not running away back into the jungle because they were frightened to go back into the jungle. 

In the past we have seen reports of animals behaving strangely ie leaving their natural habitats and venturing into human habitats before major earthquakes. Before the Indonesian earthquake and tsunami of December 26, 2004 there was strange animal behaviour in a few places. Wild boars left the forests in groups and entered towns and residential areas. Before other earthquakes birds flew into buildings and died. 

As though the animals felt threatened in their own habitats. The Tonga earthquake happened yesterday. Its over. I hope the tigers in Gua musang and Perak will go back into the jungle and will not feel threatened.  

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.