By Rosli Zakaria

The brief introduction by Selama district officer Nor Akmal Yang Ghazali was enough to inspire a group of scientists and researchers to discover the gems hidden in Selama forest reserve.

The 30 researchers who are members of Pencinta (Pertubuhan Pencinta Alam Semulajadi Malaysia) and the Geology Society of Malaysia had targeted a hot spring that feeds the Selama river  at a location where the last footprints of a presumably extinct Sumatran rhinoceros was last seen in 2015.

But Selama is not just about that little hot spring where animals, including tigers, often congregate, or a place where hikers can boil eggs.

Selama boast of seven beautiful cascading waterfalls in lush jungle with unpolluted rivers teeming with aquatic life.

As described by the Selama district officer,  some of the rivers are so pristine that you can literally see giant prawns swimming in the slow moving rapids.

For the researchers and scientists, it’s an opportunity as rare as the Sumatran rhinoceros because the forests and it’s ecosystem had not been exposed.

Apart from trying to rediscover fresh footprints of the rhinoceros, and other endangered animals, the group used the three-day trip to record findings and discover new species of animals and plants.

The researchers, however failed to rediscover the rhino footprints but they caught the images of two tapirs and a deer roaming near the hot spring, which indicated a healthy environment.

Tapir spotted on night camera

On the first day on June 16, , their first discovery was a breathtaking three-tier waterfall still uncharted and unnamed.

This waterfall will soon be included in Selama’s must visit sites which is already gifted with seven other waterfalls namely Lata Putih, Lata Tebing Tinggi, Lata Rambung, Lata Damak, Lata Panggung, Lata Buluh and Lata Titi Dua.

For the geology team, they traced the surrounding rock formation which they classified as batholith granite, to the Triassic age of between 200 and 240 million years ago.

Geologist Mohammad  Noor Akmal Anuar from Kuala Lumpur said it was an interesting discovery and believed that Selama may hold some ‘ancient’ secrets.

“We need to repeat our visit to this area soon because we hardly scratch the surface during this brief expedition,” he said, brimming with confidence about the ‘treasures’ Selama holds.

Pencinta chairman Faizal Azmi, an expert on botany, said the group also found Galeolla nudiflora, one of the rarest orchid species last found in Vietnam in the late 1800’s.

“This species is saphrophytic and grows as a creeper getting it’s nutrients from dead and composted materials.

“As far as I know, this species is not in the collection of any orchid collector and it is truly a lucky find.

Sonerila species which require an expert opinion to determine if it is a new discovery.

“It will take the researchers literally forever to capture and record the treasures in the wilderness of Selama,” said Faizal who hails from Baling, Kedah.

Ichthyologists Mohd Ilham Norhakim Lokman from Muar Johor did not have much luck in Selama because of time constraints but he, together with two ichthyologists from Germany made a discovery of one of the rarest fish in Tioman before joining the expedition.

He was hoping to discover some rare fish in Selama but was hampered by rain and other attractions in the forest.

His German friends, Andreas Isaak 37, Julia Bindl 30 from Neukoelln, Berlin, Germany, came to Malaysia three weeks ago on the invitation of ichthyologists Salman Faris Zaharin and Mohd Hafizul Akhma Yusoff.

They found Stiphodon atropurpureus and Stiphodon multisquamus, two rare fish species, which eluded Mohd Ilham Norhakim since he read a journal on its existence in Tioman island seven years ago.

“We learned a lot about nature and what treasure it holds for inquisitive researchers. This will not be the last visit to Selama because three days is not enough,” he said.

The group who made some interesting discoveries in the Selama forest reserve

Stiphodon atropurpureus, a rare find in Tioman island

Zingiber spectabile found during a night walk

A rock sample from the Triassic period about 230 million years old.