Animal Spotlight

February 2002

Once upon a time in the ancient forests of West Malaysia, there lived a vicious carnivore whose name alone struck fear into the hearts of the native animals and people. According to a Malay folklore that was passed down through the generations of survivors, this creature had a black glossy coat and a horn on top of its head. It also possessed sharp fangs and woe to any animal that was unfortunate to cross its path. This ferocious animal was called the ripat (pronounced as 'ri-part', which sounds like 'rip heart'). You see, the ripat often killed its prey by ripping out the hearts and eating the hearts first.

The ripat thought it was a handsome animal and was extremely arrogant. It often terrorized the smaller and weaker animals of the forest and even forced them to offer it meat every day.

Then one day, the brave and rebellious bamboo rats had enough of the tyranny from the ripat and plotted to teach it a lesson. They concocted a sleeping potion from the forest herbs and tricked the ripat into drinking it. The unsuspecting ripat fell for it and was soon fast asleep. The rats then began their work on the ripat by sawing off the horn and filing down the fangs. Lastly, they used a plant dye to paint a white band on the ripat's body, intending to brand it like a criminal.

When the ripat awoke, the other animals laughed at it. Astonished, it then looked into the water and was shocked and embarrassed by its changed and comical appearance. With no horn and fangs, the ripat could no longer intimidate other animals. It then fled into the forest to hide and escape from all the laughter and mockery. From then on, the ripat turned vegetarian and dared not come out of the forest until after dark. This explains why today, there is a certain very shy and peculiar black and white herbivore living in some remote jungles of Southeast Asia.

So do you have any idea what animal this is? Make a guess first and then unveil the answer here!