Asian Transformations in Action - Api-fellowships.org

REFIGURATION OF IDENTITIES AND FUTURES IN TIMES OF TRANSFORMATION 121national dignitaries from Jakarta take a tour of the place.Some Balinese were also considering Islamic sensibilitiesagainst dogs. In New Israel, Mt. Apo, and even in Bali,some villagers seem to have given themselves warrant tostone or shoot monkeys who have ‘strayed’ out of theirallowed spaces.(4) Over-conservation and other unwanted by-products ofsome traditional practices or emerging patterns in humandominatedecosystemsThis is seen in the following cases: (a) the superabundance,even approaching the level of being field pests, of wildpigs in an area of non-pork-eating Malaysia; 15 (b) thefast-growing population and quite obese monkeys oftourist-swarmed temples in Sangeh (Bali) and Lopburi(Thailand); (c) aggression and assaults on tourists bymonkeys, who might have developed “bad habits” intouristic settings; 16 and (d) the occurrence of the world’sfirst reported case of monkey-to-human “simian foamyvirus” (SFV) transmission in Bali (although such viraltransmission is asymptomatic). 17(5) Different kinds of animals given central importance indifferent cognitive domains and practicesAn example can be seen when we compare animalimages in folk stories and illustrations of animals foundin magico-mystical practices. In Bali, snakes or dragonspredominate in magical illustrations while monkeyspredominate in folk narratives. 18 Two points might bederived from these facts: (a) that valuations given toanimals could be domain-specific (i.e., a given animalis highly valued in one domain, like in oral narratives,but not so much in another domain, like in visualizingpractices); (b) both story-telling and magico-mysticalvaluations of animals might not necessarily translateto ecology-oriented conservationist valuation as thismight be another cognitive domain. These cognitivepatterns, 19 in tandem with changing social conditions,might be the reason why snakes or other culturallypotentanimal images are assigned symbolic powers buttheir counterparts in real life could just as well be overexploitedas other ordinary animals. 20(6) Interaction of several factors in shaping perceptions ofanimalsThe relevant highlights of the survey include thefollowing: 21 (a) a distinctively high rating on the sacred(duwe) status of monkeys in Sangeh as comparedto its neighboring villages (or to the city of Kuta). 22This suggests the important role of specific social andeconomic settings within Bali in shaping perceptionsof animals (Sangeh is traditionally famous for its“monkey forest” and has economically benefitted fromits monkey-forest ecotourism setting); (b) respect (forAsian Transformations in ActionThe Work of the 2006/2007 API Fellows