The shy yet ominous pangolin

MYSTICISM and contagion theory obscures the logical rationale of worldviews held by endangered indigenous people like the Ma’ Betise’ of Peninsular Malaysia. Numbering only 3,500 individuals and living in mangrove rainforests on the west coast of the peninsula, they have developed a complex taxonomy of flora and fauna that contains ideas of conservation of wildlife.

Briefly, human existence with wild animals and plants is contained in ideas of ominous warnings and taboos on how to safely consume or, alternatively, protect wildlife and flora. Although these ideas of indigenous ecosystems convey much spirituality and mysticism, there is a scientific rationale behind these rules. The global pandemic of Covid-19, which is caused by a zoonotic strain of coronaviruses that have surfaced in the last and present century, is evidence of the dangers that can befall humans who kill and consume wildlife disproportionately.