No protection for ancient cave fossil (Sun, NST)

This was published on the letters page, p16 of THE SUN , 20th October 2008

No protection for ancient cave fossil
In a cave known as Gua Naga Mas in Perak, there is a fossil of a mammal
embedded in the cave wall. It was found in 1992. No real tests have
been done, but the fossil is thought to be a leopard or other cat, and
may date to the Pleistocene, 1.8 million to 10,000 years BP.

The Dept of Museums and Antiquities erected a sign board at the base of
the steps leading up to the cave. My first visit to the site was in 1996.

On subsequent visits, by comparing my photos over the years, I could
see that pieces of the fossil have been removed. It is very
disheartening to find that unscrupulous people have been removing these
ancient bones, and that nothing has been done to protect them.

In Oct 2008 I tried to get to the cave and found the signboard had
completely disappeared, and the steps were totally overgrown and were
not to be seen. Also a factory has encroached right up to the
hillslope.

This fossil is thought to be the only one known in SE Asia. It is
really sad to see that the authorities have done nothing to protect
this site and to promote it's importance.

I hope someone from the Museums or Tourism Depts will read this and
take some action to preserve such an important piece of Malaysia's
past.
                                                                 Liz Price


The letter was also published in NST on 21 Oct 2008

NST Online » Letters

2008/10/21

Cave exhibit: A fossil of a cat is going to the dogs

By : LIZ PRICE, Kuala Lumpur

   IN a cave known as Gua Naga Mas in Perak, there is a fossil of a mammal embedded in the cave's wall. It was found in 1992. No real tests have been done, but the fossil is thought to be a leopard or some other cat, and may date back to the Pleistocene, 1.8 million to 10,000 years BP (before the present era).

The Department of Museums and Antiquities erected a signboard at the base of the steps leading to the cave. My first visit to the site was in 1996. On subsequent visits over the years, I could see that pieces of the fossil had been removed. It is disheartening to find that unscrupulous people have been removing these ancient bones, and that nothing has been done to protect them.

This month, I tried to get to the cave and found the signboard had completely disappeared, and the steps were totally overgrown and were not to be seen. Also, a factory has encroached right up to the hillslope.

This fossil is thought to be the only one known in Southeast Asia. It is really sad to see that the authorities have done nothing to protect this site.