Orang-bati
The orang-bati is a winged monster rumored to inhabit the Indonesian island of Seram. According to local folklore, the bat-like, beetle-like, or somewhat monkey-like creatures abduct children and carry them away to be eaten. Other accounts sound more like encounters with living Pterosaurs.[1] Its bat form has been additionally described as five feet tall with a feminine appearance, with blood red and black fur.[citation needed]
It is said that islanders of Seram were faced with this creature when it raided villages to abduct infants and children to its home in Mount Kairatu. Others report that it simply entered homes to steal food and personal items, but then cause illness and death. Sulfur is said to be the antidote to its poison. Due to this it has been reported to be unable to travel past the volcanic Banda Islands.[1]
Encounters[edit]
- Missionary Tyson Hughes, an English man who became a believer in Orang-Batis was originally skeptical about "Orangutans with wings", but later claimed he actually encountered one.[citation needed]
- Missionaries on Seram as long ago as the 15th century were told about the beast and how it raided the town of Uraur.[citation needed]
- In the episode "Winged Assassin" of the Nat Geo Wild documentary series Man v. Monster, presenter Richard Terry goes to the Seram to check out the villagers' legends of orang-bati haunting their jungles. The locals claimed that the orang-bati could carry off a baby human being and people who came into contact with the creature would die. The creature turned out to be a large flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus), the largest species of bat inhabiting the Indonesian archipelago. While it is not big enough to carry off a baby, the flying fox is a carrier of the deadly Henipavirus, which could potentially kill a human being and can be transmitted via contact with the flying fox's saliva. This likely accounts for the villagers' stories of how human beings who come into contact with the flying fox will die.[citation needed]
See also[edit]
- Garkain, a winged creature reported from Australia's Northern Territory
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pannell, Sandra (August 1999). "Did the Earth Move for You? The Social Seismology of a Natural Disaster in Maluku, Eastern Indonesia". The Australian Journal of Anthropology. 10 (2): 129–143. doi:10.1111/j.1835-9310.1999.tb00016.x.
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