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The morning usually begins at 22 degrees Celsius,
warming to 30 degrees Celsius, by mid-day. But what
about the humidity ? Yes, that is high -- almost at
saturation in the morning but decreases markedly as the
temperature rises. And what about the venomous snakes,
leeches, mosquitoes, dreadful diseases, and big cats ?
wouldn't these distract people from nature walks in the
forest, much less camping overnight ? These are all a
part of widely held perceptions of 'jungles' or tropical
rainforests. a few people perhaps would be fascinated by
such perceived dangers. But, if nature tourism is to
develop to significant levels in Malaysia, the truth
must be told. Take snakes for example. Malaysia has an
enormous variety of species, some with spectacular
colors. Some are venomous, but not dangerous if left
unmolested. Even the famous king cobra will go its own
way, and if severely provoked, often strikes with its
mouth closed, as a warning. What about the leeches ? A
good insecticide applied on your shoes and socks will
deter them. In the drier places in the forest, leeches
are not such a big problem. In the wetter areas,
experienced hikers will frequently check their shoes and
socks for these affectionate creatures.
They are very
democratic and will not show the slightest
discrimination toward foreigners or natives !
As for mosquitoes, the forest has hundreds of
species, some with elaborate feeding habits. But
mosquitoes that bite humans live in places where humans
are normally available to bite ! In the forest, the
numbers of species are many, but individuals within
species are few. So, one does not often encounter an
individual mosquito prone to bite a human. what of
the famous and dreaded tropical diseases? Most are
difficult to spell and even more difficult to pronounce:
e.g. schisotosomiasis, leptospirosis. every 'jungle
warfare' book includes episodes of fevers, rashes or
delirium. Malaysia is blessed with having relatively
few of the tropical disease problems encountered
elsewhere in the world. Only in a few areas, malaria is
still a problem and precautions against this disease
should be taken according to advice from health
officials. Fortunately, vector mosquitoes are shy biters
and will approach humans only when they are very still,
usually asleep at night. That means if a bed net or
window screens are sued, the danger is greatly reduce.
And what about the big cats, the tiger and leopard ?
With the dramatic reduction of forests, these grand
species have become extremely scarce and are seldom
encountered. They avoid humans, because the survivors
are predisposed to do so. Those that weren't predisposed
didn't survive. Most naturalists will not be fortunate
enough to get a glimpse of one. In Sabah and Sarawak,
they are not known to occur. Sabah and Sarawak have
more species of trees than any other areas of equivalent
size in the world, over 3500 species. Many of them are
top quality timber trees fetching a six times higher
price on the average than their nearest competitors in
South America. Moreover, one tree may harbor dozens of
species of epiphytes, including orchids, ferns and
mosses. Among this myriad of plant species live an
equally bewildering number of animal species, many of
which are still unknown to science. In the Malaysian
tropical rainforests, the vast majority of animals
cannot be seen in any zoo. |
