{Image courtesy of www.nytimes.com}
The great variety of ecosystems (environments) in Southeast Asia allow for a great diversity of animals. Elephants, tigers, leopards, and bears are still found living in the wild in their natural habitats. More commonly, however, are the animals that are seen on a daily basis in the city, suburbs or village. On any given day, you may see cows and goats walking in the middle of the street, monkeys climbing up the side of a building, or parrots and peacocks showing off their brightly colored feathers.
Cows are considered sacred and are worshipped by India’s Hindu majority. They wander the streets unrestricted and unrestrained and people often feed them their leftovers or give them food as an offering. Just like there are nursing homes to care for elderly people in some countries, there are nursing homes for cows in India!
Goats are often seen being herded by shepherds in the outskirts of the city and in almost every rural village in Southeast Asia. A friend of mine told me that her first job was shepherding the family’s 5 goats when she was only 6 years old! Sometimes, we can’t help but to giggle when we watch a herd of goats jumping spastically down the street with a couple of young shepherds chasing after them.
Monkeys in the wild are not the cute zoo animals that we often think of. In Asia, monkeys are great pests to society, wreaking havoc on the citizens by trying to steal food and supplies. During times of drought, monkeys that live outside the city move in troupes into the city and climb into open windows to take food. When we visit friends in the village, we sleep on the roof at night to stay cool. The locals taught us to sleep on top of our sandals so monkeys don’t steal them early in the morning. If you ask an Indian child, “What does a monkey say?” Instead of saying, “Ooo-ooo, Aah-aah” like we would, they might bare their teeth and make a growling or hissing sound.
Believe it or not, camels, jaguars, and elephants can also be seen on a regular basis. Camels are bred in the desert area of Rajasthan and jaguars are found all over the mountains in Northern India. Elephants are sometimes still used for labor work but are mostly found in areas of tourism.
Enjoy these videos of close-up animal encounters in Southeast Asia. Which animal would you most like to have a close-up encounter with?