Eleven cage traps and 20 cameras have been installed in recent weeks in the forested area of Gua Musang, Kelantan, where the deadly attacks happened.

There have been five attacks resulting in four deaths in Gua Musang since 2021, Hafid Rohani, director of the wildlife and national parks department (Perhilitan) in Kelantan, told AFP.

Three of the killings were in October and November.

“We are concerned. These are the worst tiger-related deaths in decades in Malaysia,” Hafid said.

The traps – rectangular cages wrapped in palm leaves so they blend with the forest – have been set up in “hot spots” where the attacks took place.

One has been placed in an oil palm plantation.

Live goats are kept in enclosures nearby to lure the tigers into the traps with their bleating.

The Malayan tiger is classified as being critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature protection group.

WWF Malaysia estimates there are fewer than 150 tigers left in the wild.

Hafid said 35 tigers were estimated to live in Kelantan jungles.

Attacks on humans by tigers are rare, but such incidents have been known to occur in areas where developments encroach on the animal’s habitat.

Last month, one female tiger was trapped and taken to the National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Perak, he said.

But Hafid admitted that officials were “not certain if it was responsible for any of the attacks on humans”.

Two of the people killed since 2021 were plantation workers while the other victims were residents, Gua Musang police chief Sik Choon Foo said.

Sik said post-mortem examinations of the victims and “tiger footprints” found at the scene of each killing indicated that the big cats were the culprit.

Wildlife officials have warned residents to stay indoors or go outside in groups.

A female tiger that seriously injured a man in July 2021 was caught and placed in a sanctuary, said Hafid.

But the tiger responsible for a deadly attack in January 2022 was shot dead after it went for wildlife officials, he said.

About 3,000 Malayan tigers once roamed the country’s jungles in the 1950s and the big cat is regarded as Malaysia’s national animal.

But its population has declined over the decades due to a loss of habitat from development and agricultural expansion, as well as poaching.

Wildlife Conservation Society country director Mark Rayan Darmaraj said one reason for the attacks on humans could be the decline in the wild boar population – one of the tiger’s main prey – due to the African swine fever.

Rayan said relocating the big cats was a “sad situation”, but it was the “most practical measure” for creatures that have been confirmed to have attacked or killed humans. This is to prevent them from striking again.