Malaysia
Red torch ginger fruits
Red torch ginger (Etlingera elatior) fruits are commonly eaten by Jahai Orang Asli people in the forests of the northern State of Perak in Malaysia. These fruits are not only consumed by the forest dwellers of Perak State, but also…
Harvesting rattan palm hearts
When walking with Jahai Orang Asli people near the Royal Belum State Park in Perak, Malaysia, they showed me some of their plant food sources in the forests. One of them was young rattan palm shoots. For the Jahai people,…
Rattan palm fruits in Perak’s jungles
Rattan palm fruits are available from most of the 70 species of the Calamus genus in Malaysia. But also species of Daemonorps and Korthalsia rattan genera often carry edible fruits. We went with the Jahai Orang Asli people into the…
Wild ginger stalks for food
When walking with the Orang Asli people of the Jahai tribe near the Royal Belum State Park in northern Malaysia, they showed me various edible plants in the rainforest that they ate regularly. One of them was a Zingiberaceae (Ginger)…
Moon mushrooms at the Royal Belum State Park in Malaysia
Moon mushrooms (Gymnopus sp.) are one group of edible mushrooms found in the forests of Malaysia, and are locally called ‘Jamur bulan’. The other groups of edible mushrooms are colloquially known as wood ear mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, and shiitake mushrooms….
Blowpipe hunting with Orang Asli people in Malaysia
Blowpipe hunting is still prevalent in many Orang Asli communities in Malaysia. Although the government strictly enforces hunting rules and regulations, it is practically impossible to supervise all the remote small hamlets and villages. On the other hand, it is…
Danger of Asian elephants – whether they are in musth or not
Asian elephants (Elaphas maximus) are smaller than their African cousins but not less dangerous when in musth. That danger was already described for African elephants in this article on this website. In the following, we briefly compare the differences between…
Giant Snakehead fishing in Thailand
The Giant Snakehead fish (Channa micropeltes) is a highly aggressive and predatory freshwater fish. Its diet mainly consists of smaller fish, frogs, crustaceans, and aquatic prey. In Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, this fish is known as the ‘Toman’ and, along…
Heavenly Durian
The fruit Durian (Durio zibethinus) is named after the Malay word ‘Duri’ for ‘Thorn’, referring to the thorny skin, and ‘zibethinus’ obviously refers to its smell. And the most sought-after variety in Malaysia is ‘Musang King’, where ‘Musang’ means ‘Palm…