It's a fact that we humans are the biggest enemy against Mother Nature and while i am no saint when it comes to saving the environment; i draw a line when humans treat non-humans cruelly.
There's one encounter i remember clearly from my Langkawi trip. It's the last segment of our Langkawi Island Hopping tour where we were brought to Pulau Beras Basah (White Rice Island).
A crowd had gathered near one of the trees near the beach and being my usual nosy self; i stepped ahead to check it out. There's this tourist (not going to mention nationality) who was trying to coerce this hermit crab (the coenobita cavipes species) out of its shell!
I can understand humans' curiosity and fascination towards wildlife, especially when the advantage is on the bigger, stronger humans. I would have done the same if i were younger; at this age, my concern would be the risk of being bitten!
To be frank, i am rather impressed with the tourist as he managed to catch another crab from the wet sand. You know difficult is that?! Okay, it's not an easy task for city folks like us.
What i was more curious of was that one of his friends was burning this 1.5-liter bottle using his lighter; eventually resulting in a gaping hole.
The crab was then forcibly squeezed into the bottle! Oh, it's an improvised prison for the poor crab although i don't see what's the purpose as i doubt the tourist can bring it home!
That's not enough; he proceeded to push the hermit crab into the bottle as well! Now, i was pissed as crabs of different species can be territorial and to put both in a small, enclosed area would result in a fight that could probably lead to death!
However, as a tourist myself, i am ashamed to say that i didn't dare utter a single word. I was hoping there will be other who could talk some sense into the brainless tourists but no one did.
And you know what's the best thing? The bottle was passed over to the daughter like sort of trophy! Gosh, that's like the worst kind of education ever for nature. You think they would release both crustaceans before they leave?
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Click here for a summary of my trip to Langkawi, with a day trip to Alor Setar.