Duo completes 235-km walk for tigers at KL High Court
'A Walk For Tigers' duo Sharifah Sofia Syed Hussein and Rafizah Mat Zin have completed their 235km journey today.
The pair had begun their descent from Taman Negara, Sungai Relau, on May 6 and finished the final leg of their nine-day journey at the Kuala Lumpur high court at 11am today.
'A Walk For Tigers' duo Sharifah Sofia Syed Hussein and Rafizah Mat Zin have completed their 235km journey today.
The pair had begun their descent from Taman Negara, Sungai Relau, on May 6 and finished the final leg of their nine-day journey at the Kuala Lumpur high court at 11am today.
Speaking to reporters after reaching their final destination, Sharifah and Rafizah described the past nine days as being an adventure.
"We have finally done the 235km. It's been an adventure. It's been very challenging, but we're happy that it's over.
"The walk is over, but the work is not over," said Sharifah today.
Malaysiakini observed today's three-hour long 12km-leg of the duo's journey that began from Batu Caves’ Mcdonald's in Gombak, where the duo was joined by five others at 8am.
Among the challenges faced by the group of seven included injuries suffered by members of the group and navigating the urban landscape of the city. This included Sharifah's knee injury - which she has been suffering from for four days.
"You know, (my leg has) been great the past couple of days, but the other one is giving away now," she said, adding that the sloping landscape of their last few walks had taken a toll on her and Rafizah's joints.
At certain points of the journey, the group came across highways and were led down tricky routes by Google Maps that were inaccessible to those on foot.
Despite this, the small group remained a tight-knit unit throughout the journey.
Daniel Chong, a 43-year-old college lecturer, told Malaysiakini that he was inclined to join today's walk to help the cause as an animal lover and someone interested in doing what he calls 'acts of social service'.
Following the public appeal, sisters Akinah and Iqa, along with two friends, drove from Banting, Selangor, to take up the final leg of the 'Tiger walk'.
"My sister dragged (the three of us) here to join the walk. She heard about it through her work with Gabungan Darurat Iklim Malaysia," said Iqa, who is a law student.
Their friend Selvan, a project manager from Taman Desa, Kuala Lumpur, suffers from a foot condition - which made his journey harder than the rest.
The trio didn't want to reveal their full names for privacy reasons.
When asked about his condition, he told Malaysiakini that he was 'super tired'.
"My leg is painful. I don't know how the other girls, (Sharifah) Sofia especially, do it - 200+ kilometres.
"It's worth it, it's worth it. We are doing it for a cause, to save tigers by walking and 'killing' ourselves, so do support us," he said.
Tigers are a protected species
Sharifah, who has acted in films such as 'Pisau Cukur' is seeking a declaration from the Kuala Lumpur High Court that the Malayan tiger will go extinct within the next decade due to deforestation.
The suit has been filed by environmental NGO Hidup - with the actress named as one of the plaintiffs and the energy and natural resources ministry as the case's respondent.
A national survey by the Wildlife and National Parks Department, WWF-Malaysia, and other NGOs from 2016 to 2020 found there are fewer than 150 tigers in Malaysian forests, down from about 3,000 in the 1950s.
"Loss of habitat due to rapid development, agriculture expansion, and widespread hunting has caused the population to decline to about 500 individuals at the turn of the century," WWF-Malaysia said.
The Malayan tiger is a protected species under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 and is classified as critically endangered under the International Union of Conservation of Nature's Red List for Threatened Species.
Sharifah told reporters that now with the walk completed, their next move is to continue the fight to save tigers through educational programmes.
"The next step is actually to carry on with the educational campaigns, so there has been a few people that have approached me and want to talk about how we can actually do more programmes with schools and adults and outside activities as well, so that's what we're looking forward to doing in the next six to 12 months.
"The education, the awareness don't stop here. We're just going to keep on going in many, many other ways," she said.
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