tribute to Limpet
i was watching the idiot box on Monday night and i happen to click on the Animal Planet channel and was slightly fascinated with the documentary airing. it was about culture amongst the animal kingdom. this was specifically seen from the macaques (a kinda of primate) in Japan. the first section targeted the hotspring-loving macaques, who learn to harness the geothermal energy in sub-zero temperatures. the researchers then plodded down to warmer weather to check in on another bunch of macaques. this group was located on an isolated Japanese island. researchers speak of a genius macaque named Imu, who was smart enough to wash sweet potatoes in the salty seawater for flavour and cleanliness of course. he also developed the technique of scooping a pile of grain and soaking them in shallow waters to separate it from sand before picking and eating it.
my attention was focused on one macaque, he was nicknamed Limpet. he was really small. the reason why he was small was because his mother died and he had no nourishment other than grain. in the wild, a young animal barely makes it into adulthood without parents. i was moved by the entire life of this small creature. how it struggled against all odds to survive without much help. it was devastating to find out that poor Limpet died two weeks after the shooting of that documentary. he was mentioned in the closing credits. today’s blog is dedicate to this young macaque. there were many things, which flashed into my head after this documentary.
i am an animal lover so to speak and i do not understand how in the world the 2 presenters, could have just left poor Limpet knowing that it would not survive in the wild as the odds were just to great against him. i have seen many other documentaries of orphaned cubs and such being cared for in captivity and re-introduced to the wild. why could not these 2 people see that Limpet needed that same care?!!!! it just pissed me off to no end. must an animal be on the highly endangered list, to be granted this privilidge called LIFE?!!! how could they leave knowing that he would not have made it without human intervention. i will never know the answers to these questions unless i can stare those two in their face and call them murderers. how those final days for poor Limpet must have been a Herculean effort. i feel sick and have been sick since the documentary ended. i have not slept well thinking about it. it just seems so wrong and unsettling. i can recall his poor face full of fear and yet fighting for his dear life.
i have e-mailed the Animal Planet channel via their website contact to see how i can get in touch with the presenters or how did Limpet pass away. i wish i could make a change, but my only hope is to ensure that nothing of this sort will repeat itself. this is in memory of Limpet. a primate, who i never knew until March 28, 2005. he will be always remembered.
emo: crushed…
Hey there, just wanted to post a comment about your concern for Limpet… I just watched that same episode about an hour ago, and was doing some research myself on the unfortunate passing of the poor thing. The two hosts of that show we just saw, Chris and Martin, have hosted many other animal-oriented shows such as Crats Creatures and Zaboomafoo, and I’m pretty sure that if they could have saved Limpet they would have done all that was in their power to do so. I have a hunch that the researchers on the boat had something to do with the fact that the two brothers were not able to remove the young primate from his natural habitat. This is just a wild guess, but wither way Im sure Chris and Martin Crat had their reasons for the decision that they made. Who knows, maybe they did take him in to care for him but he died while kept in captivity. I guess we’ll never know. Anyways, I hope you were eventually able to sleep after all that. Chow. -Sonya Nemesis
ooohhh…finally someone, who knows what i’m talking about. thanks for sharing Sonya. i have a weakness for animals and i just can’t let it slip of my mind. i still have his name in my MSN nick till now. poor lil’ thing. he was much braver and stronger than most people i have met. this includes myself.
by the way, thank you for stopping by my blog. i visited your page. very noble effort and i really like the main illustration. chalk art? keep up the good work. i will be stopping by for updates
http://www.ssestudios.com/
hey nawooz. long live ur blog. I”m amazed of seeing that someone (I mean that’’s u) has actually expressed the same kind of feeling that I am having now, in writing. I”ve only watched the documentary an hour ago, wow, 9 months after u”ve watched it. I”m an animal lover too, having a kinda special preference towards the primates. watching limpet on the tvbox was deeply heart touching. Poor little limpet, pittyful, yet appealing. I wish so much could have a look at him with my own eyes. I too, hope the closing dedicating credits had never appear. Without mentioning what effort that they have offered to save limpet, this sort of complaints is what they have to expect from animal lovers all over the world. I believe they will receive more and more emails like urs, in hours to come after Animal Planet airing the show for the first time here in Malaysia, an hour ago. Have they reply ur email?
nevertheless, I agree with sonya too, that they might have done their best to save limpet. No one can resist the force of nature. Some animals just can”t live without parents care no matter what human offer to help. I have examples here in my hometown. Have u heard about an orangutan sanctuary in Borneo called Sepilok?? That’’s in my hometown, a small fishing village called Sandakan, at the most eastern end of Borneo-Malaysia. I”ve seen orphaned orangutan died despite the best care given.
If u happen to travel to South East Asia, consider a stop here. We have wild and tamed orangutan, proboscis monkey, and some other primates not found elsewhere in the world.
In memory of limpet, the poor macaque……..
by the way, proboscis a type of macaque too. the sanctuary here has a few well-recognised wild groups. it’’s interesting to watch the day to day life of proboscis, expecially special occurence like replacement of unable boss, and the growing of bachelors, beware, they don”t play with human, though..
Hi Eng Ming,
Thanks for stopping by my humble blog. Till today I still have a vivid picture of his face when I recall the episode. So small and so helpless. By the way, I have definitely heard of Sepilok. I have not the luck to travel out of Malaysia yet, but Sabah is on my list. My cousin sis used to live in KK and she used to invite us down for a holiday trip, but alas I was still studying.
Here’’s to all the animal lovers all over the world. Merry Xmas!!!
hello..
I watched the same documentary some days ago and I cried…
I just wish Limpet could have recieved that affection we feel for him now when he was still alive… I guess that’s what he missed more in his short life…
can i make friend with you??
i agree with you!
hello! greece is here! saw the show yesterday and i was sad right after the end…they could have helped, at least they could try….
I was sad too…Poor Limpet
i’m french so, sorry for my “bad” english, but i want explain something :
A really good animal’s reporter must not change the environement.
For example : when you see a lion witch killing a zebra, it’s “sad” but it’s the life….
every day, monkeys like limpet dies…
I was really sad for him…But the life is not pink…
R.I.P. Limpet….