10,000-year-old porcupine fossil at Ipoh geological heritage site goes missing
Sign up now: Get insights on the biggest stories in Malaysia
The marks were made by a battery operated grinder, believed to have been used to remove the fossil.
PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
IPOH – A fossil, believed to be that of a porcupine dating back 10,000 years and embedded in a cave wall at Gua Matsoorat in Ipoh, has gone missing, raising concerns about the protection of geological heritage sites.
Guide, volunteer, explorer and rock climber Mohd Zairis Abdul Rani said he, together with limestone hill conservation group Kinta Valley Watch, discovered the fossilised teeth and jawbone of the mammal in August 2025.
But when he entered the cave passage at end-January, he found the fossil, located at two locations, had been cut, probably using a battery-operated grinder.
He said: “The fossil was gone when we returned. It is usually very difficult to find a fossil complete with the teeth and jawbone. That’s what made it special.”
Gua Matsoorat is part of the Kinta Valley Geopark site.
Mr Mohd Zairis said the cave is known for both fossils and ancient rock art, where several herbivorous mammal fossils have been found, embedded in cave walls or on fallen rocks.
He often takes researchers, university students and professors to Gua Matsoorat on expeditions, and works closely with Kinta Valley Watch.
He believes someone with experience carried out the removal.
Mr Ching Boon Tat, spokesman for Kinta Valley Watch, said its role is primarily to monitor and record activities at ecological heritage sites.
He added: “Our job is just to observe, to record. But if a fossil suddenly disappears, the appropriate authority or department should investigate.
“There is a need for better coordination and management to step in to prevent further damage.”
Mr Ching noted that the ongoing concern reflects broader issues in Malaysia regarding the preservation of natural and cultural heritage, where unclear responsibility and limited oversight continue to put important sites at risk.
In 2020, he and his team stumbled upon the fossil of an extinct elephant in a limestone cave in Gopeng.
With an estimated age of 30,000 to 80,000 years, it is said to be the country’s first discovery of a Stegodon fossil.
In 2019, Kinta Valley Watch, during an expedition near Gua Naga Mas in Simpang Pulai, found 107 fossils dating back 10,000 years. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
