LIPIS: Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) ranger Tarmizi Ahmad Japli, who went missing two weeks ago, was found near stream some four kilometres from the base camp at Yong Forest Reserve in Taman Negara.
It is understood that since Aug 13, search and rescue (SAR) teams had scoured the same area where Tarmizi was found, but were unsuccessful in locating the ranger.
Tarmizi went missing while working on a national tiger population count study which began at Felda Kechau 11 in Lipis on Aug 11.
He was eventually rescued yesterday (Aug 25) at about 3.55pm by a team of 30 SAR personnel.
Pahang deputy police chief Datuk Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said when he was found, Tarmizi was healthy and safe but was overcome by tiredness and trauma.
“The search radius covered a 40-square- kilometre area and we found the victim somewhere between Base Camp 2 and Base Camp 3.
“Even though the distance between Base Camp 2 and the victim was only four kilometres, it took us four hours to find him because of the hilly terrain the high number of streams,” he told reporters here today.
Present were Perhilitan director-general Datuk Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim, Pahang Perhilitan director Ahmad Azhar Mohamed and Jerantut district police chief Superintendent Mazlan Hassan.
“Prior to the rescue, the police air wing unit scoured the area three times using a heat seeking device but we could not locate the victim because of the thick foliage.
He said the victim was transported to Base Camp 2 and was later airlifted to SMK Clifford before being rushed to Hospital Kuala Lipis for treatment.
Yusri said in total, 360 people from various enforcement agencies, non-governmental organisations and nearby residential areas participated in the SAR effort.
Attached to the Kota Bharu Perhilitan office in Kelantan, he was involved in the first national tiger count study when he got separated from his friend as they were following a river route.
Seven individuals including Tarmizi were involved in the programme. The incident happened when five of them were returning to the camping spot when three of them followed a trail while two others walked along the river bank to retrieve a camera (used for the tiger count).
Tarmizi and his colleague who were following the river route got separated before his friend noticed that he was missing and the rest of the team lodged a report with the authorities before SAR operations were mounted to track his whereabouts.
Checks revealed the base camp site was located 13km from the national park entrance and due to the hilly landscape it would require several hours to travel on foot.
On the day he went missing, Tarmizi was carrying a backpack which contained mineral water bottles and also some packets of chocolates.