 |
| Lim Tze Tshen...'most of the fossils came from limestone hills in Perak' |
Most of the fossils
and some spectacular ones like hippopotamus fossil was found within the
limestone hills in Perak.
This was revealed by Lim Tze Tshen the President of the Paleontological Society of Malaysia who was in Ipoh at the invitation of Kinta Valley Watch (KVW) group to present a talk on paleontology and the importance of limestone hills.
Lim is
attached to the Sarawak Museum and cooperates with paleontologists from the
University of Malaya doing mammal fossil research in Malaysia.
He said ecologically
it is very important to protect the limestone hills because some of the hills
have caves and within they have unique ecosystems where rare animals lived
inside.
Some
spectacular fossils found are two records of hippopotamus one found in Gua
Datuk in the vicinity Lost World of Tambun in the 1960’s and which is on display
at the prehistoric gallery of Museum Negara and the other is from Gerik.
The other
spectacular fossils is the Tiger found embedded in the ceiling at Naga Mas and
Orang Utan fossils in Lenggong and a cave near Kanthan hill.
On top of
the hills we have the vegetation like orchids, some cycads which is a kind of
plant that was a living fossil from the dinosaur period but they still survive
in limestone hills and begonias. These are very rare but are very endemic to
limestone hills.
Once you
wipe off the limestone hills you wipe off all the animals and plants. That is
why it is important to find a sustainable way to protect these limestone hills.
According to
Lim most of these limestone caves have fossils inside. At the moment most of
the fossils they are studying came from the limestone caves in Perak due to the
many limestone outcrops and caves.
Fossil's found in Ipoh's limestone hills
I am not
against mining or quarrying but urged companies to go underground. A lot of
mining companies overseas avoid mining the outcrop and prefer to go underground
mining so the technique is already established. There is so much to lose rather
than gained.
On the
situation in the Kinta Valley Lim says those hills that are fairly intact
should be protected. Make clear the status of the hill then try to find ways
how it could be incorporated into the protected area systems.
Those that
have been mined I hope the authorities will work closely with the companies to
restore the areas and make them less of an eyesore.
 |
| An auditorium within Gua Selari where Lim delivered his talk |
The talk was
held at Gua Selari one of the many caves of Gunong Lanno which the KVW group is lobbying to
protect from further quarrying activity.
Kinta Valley
Watch has in recent months shown on its Fb page of the same name, the richness
of the natural biodiversity of Gunong Lanno.
The hill also
houses remains of the tin mining activity within one of the caves, Gua Gatsch
which the group is trying to preserve to showcase the industrial heritage of
the Kinta Valley.
JAG
