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…

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 (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 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…

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…

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…

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…