PETALING JAYA: Many throng Batu Caves for its religious sites and tourist appeal, but many do not know about the area’s scientific and eco-tourism values.

In the late 1970s, the Malaysian Nature Society found at least 28 species of moss, 38 species of ferns, 125 species of dicotyledons and 52 species of monocotyledons at Batu Caves. As for fauna, at least five species each of bats, frogs, lizards and snakes make the limestone hills their home.