Are tokay geckos venomous, bats blind, or will birds reject a chick a person has touched? Short answers to popular animal myths in Indonesia, with scientific sources.
20 popular myths and beliefs about animals, each with a short answer first, an explanation, and scientific or official sources.
Myth: If a person touches a fallen baby bird, its parents will reject it because of the human scent.
False. Most birds have a poor sense of smell, so parents do not reject a chick because of human scent. Disturbance, not smell, is what drives parents away.
According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, this belief is essentially a myth. Most birds have a limited sense of smell, so human scent does not make parents abandon their young.
The real problem is disturbance. Birds that are flushed from a nest by people or predators sometimes abandon their eggs or chicks, so do not approach or disturb nests.
Nor is the myth a reason to pick a baby bird up. Fledglings, which are almost fully feathered, normally spend time on the ground before they can fly, and the parents are usually nearby feeding them. Keep cats and dogs away and watch from a distance.
Myth: Sprinkling salt, sulphur or mothballs around the house keeps snakes from coming in.
False. A BRIN herpetologist says salt does not work, and trials of sulphur and naphthalene (mothballs) did not repel snakes. The advice is to remove hiding places and rats around the house instead.
Amir Hamidy, a herpetologist at Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), says salt does not work against snakes. The belief is often linked to salt's effect on slugs and some insects, but that does not carry over to snakes.
Other popular remedies have not held up either. Colorado State University Extension summarises several trials: a naphthalene-and-sulphur product failed to repel several snake species, and naphthalene and sulphur tested on their own were also ineffective. It concludes there is not enough data to recommend snake repellents.
The recommended approach is to make the home less attractive: clear clutter and brush where snakes hide, and control the rats they hunt. If a snake is already inside, keep away from it and call Damkar (the fire and rescue service).
Myth: You can always spot a venomous snake by its triangular head or slit-shaped pupils.
False. WHO says there is no simple rule for identifying a dangerous venomous snake. The highly venomous Javan spitting cobra and Malayan krait have rounded heads. Treat every snake as dangerous and keep away.
WHO's snakebite management guidelines for South-East Asia say there is no simple rule for identifying a dangerous venomous snake. Some harmless snakes have even evolved to look almost identical to venomous ones; several wolf snakes of the genus Lycodon, for example, mimic the Malayan krait.
The triangular-head rule is also misleading. Indonesia's Ministry of Health guideline places the Javan spitting cobra and the Malayan krait in Category I for western Indonesia, meaning venomous snakes that are common and cause many bites, deaths and disabilities, and describes both as having a rounded head with no clearly defined neck. A single feature such as head or pupil shape cannot be relied on.
The ministry also tells health workers not to rely on patients or relatives to identify the snake. Treat every snake as dangerous, keep your distance and call Damkar (fire and rescue) if one enters the house. If someone is bitten, get them to a health facility straight away.
Myth: Tokay geckos are venomous, their bite only lets go when thunder strikes, and they can be used to cure HIV/AIDS.
False. Tokay geckos are not venomous, but their jaws are strong and a bite is hard to release, which is where the thunder myth comes from. There is no evidence they cure HIV/AIDS.
According to Awal Riyanto, a reptile researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), tokay geckos are not venomous. Their strong jaws make a bite hard to release, which gave rise to the belief that a tokay only lets go when thunder sounds. Smithsonian's National Zoo likewise notes that tokays have a very strong bite that can draw blood.
Since around 2009, rumours have claimed that tokays can cure HIV/AIDS. The Smithsonian says there is no evidence for this, but the rumour drove a spike in tokay trafficking across South-East Asia. HIV is treated with antiretroviral therapy (ARV) at health facilities, which Indonesia's Ministry of Health says lets people with HIV live long, healthy and productive lives.
Do not catch or handle tokay geckos. If a bite breaks the skin, have it checked at a health facility.
Myth: House geckos (cicak) are poisonous, so a gecko or its droppings falling into food can poison you.
Partly true. House geckos are not venomous and are harmless to people, but they can carry Salmonella bacteria. The risk is food hygiene, not poison.
House geckos are not venomous. Animal Diversity Web (University of Michigan) describes the common house gecko as non-venomous and harmless to humans, with a gentle bite that does not pierce skin.
The real concern is bacteria. A study of 1,318 wild geckos in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, covering the common house gecko, the flat-tailed house gecko and the four-clawed gecko, found 22.2 percent of samples positive for Salmonella. The researchers concluded that geckos appear to be a natural reservoir of Salmonella Weltevreden and a source of human Salmonella infections in South-East Asia. A household study in Malawi likewise found that geckos carry Salmonella inside homes.
So geckos are not poisonous, but kitchen hygiene still matters. WHO advises protecting kitchen areas and food from insects, pests and other animals, and washing hands before handling food.
False. Warts are caused by a human virus (human papillomavirus) that spreads between people, not from toads. But the Asian common toad is toxic, so do not handle or eat it.
Warts are caused by a virus. According to the NHS, they spread to other people from contaminated surfaces or through close skin contact. The virus is human papillomavirus, which lives on people, so warts do not pass from animals to humans.
The myth probably arose because toads have bumpy skin and people once thought the bumps were contagious. The bumps are not warts. The Asian common toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus), which favours gardens and farmland and urban areas, has thick, dry skin and a protruding parotoid gland.
Although toads do not spread warts, the Asian common toad is poisonous. Animal Diversity Web records that it is toxic and can cause illness and death in humans. Keep children and pets away from it and never eat it. If someone accidentally eats one, go to a health facility straight away.
Myth: Bats are blind, which is why they rely only on sound to fly.
False. Bats are not blind. Their eyes are small but very sensitive in dim light, and the large flying fox navigates by sight rather than echolocation, finding food by sight and smell.
According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), bats are not blind. Their eyes are small but their vision is very sensitive, letting them see in conditions we would consider pitch black. Their sight is not as sharp or as colourful as ours.
Insect-eating bats locate their prey by echolocation, but not all bats depend on it. The large flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus), one of the largest bats in the world, uses vision rather than echolocation to navigate in flight and finds food with its acute senses of sight and smell.
Do not handle wild bats. If you are bitten or scratched, go to a health facility straight away.
Myth: Slow lorises are cute, tame and harmless, so they make good pets.
False. The Sunda, Javan and Bornean slow lorises are protected by law, and slow lorises are venomous mammals. Illegally traded lorises routinely have their teeth clipped, which often kills them.
Environment and Forestry Regulation P.106/2018 lists the Sunda slow loris (Nycticebus coucang), the Javan slow loris (N. javanicus) and the Bornean slow loris (N. menagensis) as protected species. The Conservation Law (Law No. 5 of 1990 as amended by Law No. 32 of 2024) bans anyone from catching, owning, keeping, transporting or trading a live protected animal.
Nor are slow lorises harmless. Slow and pygmy lorises have the only confirmed two-step venom system: secretion from a gland on the arm mixes with saliva, and the mixture can be toxic to other mammals, including humans. When threatened, a loris may raise its arms above its head in a 'venom pose'. Loris bites have been reported to cause anaphylaxis, including in West Kalimantan.
The trade is also cruel. Illegally traded lorises routinely have their front teeth clipped out by vendors, which stops them being released to the wild and often kills them. If you see slow lorises for sale, including online, report it to Gakkum Kehutanan (forestry law enforcement) or the BKSDA.
Myth: Komodo dragons kill their prey with deadly bacteria in their saliva.
False. A 2009 study in PNAS rejected the toxic-bacteria idea and found that Komodo dragons have venom that stops blood clotting and induces shock in badly wounded prey.
The idea that Komodo prey die from bacterial infection from the dragon's saliva was long widely accepted, despite a conspicuous lack of evidence. Fry and colleagues (PNAS, 2009) tested the idea and rejected it. They showed that the deep wounds a Komodo inflicts are worsened by venom that blocks blood clotting and induces shock.
A separate study of saliva and gums from 16 Komodo dragons in US zoos (Goldstein and colleagues, 2013) found no virulent bacterial species. As in other carnivores, the bacteria in a Komodo's mouth reflect its recent meals and surroundings and are unlikely to cause a rapid fatal infection. Because the samples came from captive animals, this finding complements rather than replaces the venom evidence.
Komodo dragons are protected and are large predators. Keep your distance and never approach one in the wild.
Myth: Porcupines can shoot their quills at enemies.
False. Porcupines cannot shoot their quills. Quills are modified hairs that come loose easily, so they stick in an attacker on contact or when the porcupine charges backwards into it.
According to San Diego Zoo, porcupines cannot shoot their quills. Quills are modified hairs made of keratin, the same material as human hair and nails. Muscles at the base of each quill let it stand up when the porcupine is excited or alarmed.
The myth may come from the fact that loose quills can fly off when a porcupine shakes, though without deadly force. Old World porcupines, the group found in Indonesia, also rattle their tail quills as a warning and may then charge backwards into a predator. Smithsonian's National Zoo likewise notes that quills cannot be shot, but are loosely attached and dislodge in a predator's skin.
Puncture wounds from quills are still serious, so do not approach or handle porcupines. The Javan porcupine (Hystrix javanica) is a protected species.
Myth: Owls bring bad luck or foretell a death, so they should be driven away.
False. This is a cultural belief, not a scientific fact. The barn owl (Tyto alba) is actually used as a natural predator of rats in rice fields and oil palm plantations.
In many places in Indonesia, owls are seen as a bad omen. Beliefs like this are part of culture and cannot be tested scientifically. What science can explain is the owl's role in nature: owls are birds of prey that hunt at night.
The Medan plantation crop protection centre of Indonesia's Ministry of Agriculture describes the barn owl (Tyto alba javanica, locally called serak jawa) as a promising rat predator. A barn owl programme in Telogoweru village, Demak, Central Java, significantly reduced rat damage to rice and maize. Across South-East Asia, barn owls are also widely used for biological rat control in oil palm plantations.
The ministry also notes that owls nesting in villages are threatened by the view that they are bad omens, which leads people to drive them away or kill them. Leave owls nesting near your home in peace and watch them from a distance.
False. Many adult cats cannot digest lactose properly and can get digestive problems from dairy. A cat's main drink should be clean water, not cow's milk.
Kittens make plenty of the enzyme lactase to digest their mother's milk. According to Cats Protection, as cats grow and move to solid food their bodies make less lactase, so many adult cats lose the ability to digest lactose (milk sugar) properly.
Cornell University's Feline Health Center does not recommend milk as a treat for cats, because many cats are lactose-intolerant and can develop digestive problems if fed dairy products.
The RSPCA reminds owners that cow's milk is not a substitute for water. Make sure your cat always has clean drinking water, and talk to a vet if its eating or drinking habits change.
Myth: Rabies only comes from dog bites, so bites or scratches from cats and monkeys are nothing to worry about.
False. Dogs are the main source, but Indonesia's Ministry of Health also names bats, cats and monkeys as rabies spreaders. Any bite or scratch from these animals needs prompt care at a health facility.
According to WHO, dogs are responsible for up to 99 percent of human rabies cases. But rabies infects mammals, including dogs, cats, livestock and wildlife, and spreads through saliva, usually via bites, scratches or direct contact with the eyes, mouth or open wounds.
Indonesia's Ministry of Health names dogs, bats, cats and monkeys as the main animals that spread rabies. Its 2024 monthly zoonosis reports recorded 185,359 bites by rabies-transmitting animals and 122 human rabies deaths in Indonesia.
WHO stresses that once the virus reaches the central nervous system and symptoms appear, rabies is fatal in 100 percent of cases, but deaths are preventable with prompt post-exposure treatment. If you are bitten or scratched by a dog, cat, monkey or bat, go to a puskesmas or hospital straight away; see the suspected rabies exposure guide.
False. Pangolin scales are made of keratin, the same material as fingernails and hair, and have no proven medicinal value. Pangolins are protected, and trading their scales is illegal.
A pangolin's skin is covered in large, overlapping scales made of keratin, the same material as fingernails, hair and horn. National Geographic notes that pangolin scales, like rhino horn, have no proven medicinal value, even though they are still used in traditional medicine.
In China, where pangolin scales are used in traditional medicine, the Chinese Pharmacopoeia removed pangolins in May 2020, meaning that under official technical standards they are no longer considered suitable for medicinal use.
In Indonesia, the Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) is a protected species under Regulation P.106/2018, and Law No. 32 of 2024 bans storing, owning, transporting or trading parts of protected animals. The trade continues: in April 2026 Gakkum Kehutanan (forestry law enforcement) uncovered 796.34 kilograms of smuggled pangolin scales at Merak port. Report pangolin scale trading to Gakkum Kehutanan or the BKSDA.
False. Rhino horn is made of keratin fibres, the same material as fingernails and hair, and there is no scientific evidence that it works as medicine. Javan and Sumatran rhinos are protected by law.
Rhino horn contains no bone. According to San Diego Zoo, it is a mass of matted keratin fibres, the same substance as human hair and fingernails. The International Rhino Foundation notes that some people believe horn can stop nosebleeds and headaches or even cure food poisoning, but there is no scientific evidence for any of it.
This belief is why rhinos are poached. Mongabay Indonesia reported that Banten police uncovered an illegal rhino horn trade in which 26 Javan rhinos were poached in Ujung Kulon National Park between 2019 and 2023.
The Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) and the Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) are listed as protected species in Regulation P.106/2018, and Law No. 32 of 2024 bans storing, owning or trading parts of protected animals. Report any rhino horn offered for sale to Gakkum Kehutanan or the BKSDA.
Myth: A baby orangutan you find or buy can be kept at home, especially if you mean to rescue it.
False. All orangutan species are protected, and keeping a protected animal is illegal. A baby orangutan without its mother almost always means the mother was killed. Hand it over or report it to the BKSDA.
The Sumatran, Bornean and Tapanuli orangutans are all listed as protected species in Regulation P.106/2018. Law No. 32 of 2024 bans anyone from catching, storing, owning, keeping, transporting or trading a live protected animal.
In the wild, a young orangutan stays with its mother until it is 6 to 8 years old, so a baby found alone signals that its mother was killed. During those years the infant learns from its mother what to eat and where and when to find food. A baby raised by people misses this and needs rehabilitation before it can return to the forest.
In November 2025, for example, the West Kalimantan BKSDA and the rescue group YIARI took in a roughly two-year-old orangutan that had been kept illegally at an unlicensed gold mine in Ketapang. If you find a baby orangutan, or see one kept or offered for sale, do not buy it; report it to the BKSDA or Gakkum Kehutanan.
Myth: Whale sharks are dangerous and could eat a person because they are so big.
False. The whale shark is the world's largest fish, but it is harmless to people. It feeds by filtering plankton and other prey from the water, and it is fully protected in Indonesia.
According to FishBase, the whale shark is the world's largest fish but is harmless to humans. It filters its food, from plankton and fish eggs to crustaceans and schooling fish, with the occasional squid or tuna. The Florida Museum of Natural History (University of Florida) notes that despite its size it is considered harmless and often interacts calmly with divers.
If anything, whale sharks need protecting from people. Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministerial Decree No. 18/KEPMEN-KP/2013 gives the whale shark full protection in Indonesia.
When watching whale sharks, follow the rules of the operator and officials. The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries' draft whale shark tourism guidelines ban physical contact such as touching, pulling, chasing or riding them.
Myth: Dolphins are fish because they live in the sea and swim with fins.
False. Biologically, dolphins are marine mammals (order Cetacea): they breathe at the surface and nurse their young. Indonesian fisheries law calls them 'fish', but that is a legal definition, not biology.
According to NOAA, the US ocean and atmosphere agency, dolphins, porpoises and whales are marine mammals in the order Cetacea. Like other mammals, mother dolphins nurse their young: in the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, nursing lasts about 32 months in the wild. Dolphins must also come to the surface to breathe.
The confusion is understandable because Indonesian law uses a broader definition. The Fisheries Law defines fish as any organism that spends all or part of its life cycle in water. That is why the Mahakam Irrawaddy dolphin and many dolphin species also appear in Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministerial Decree No. 66 of 2025 on Protected Fish Species, even though biologically they are mammals.
The Mahakam Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) are listed as protected species in Regulation P.106/2018. Do not catch, keep or trade them.
Partly true. Worker honey bees have a barbed sting that usually stays in the skin along with the venom sac, so the bee dies. Wasps have smooth stings and can sting again and again.
Only female honey bees, the workers and the queen, have a sting. A worker's sting is barbed, while the queen's is longer and smooth. The barbed sting is often left behind together with the venom sac and muscles that keep pumping venom, and this ultimately kills the bee.
Not every stinging insect shares this fate. According to the University of California's IPM programme, wasp stings have no barbs and can be used repeatedly. Even honey bees do not always die: a study of Asian (Apis cerana) and European honey bees stinging hornets found that most bees could pull their sting back out, perhaps because it could not penetrate the hornet's hard cuticle far enough.
Bee and wasp stings can be dangerous for allergic people, because insect venom allergy is potentially life-threatening. Keep away from bee and wasp nests, and go to a health facility straight away after many stings or any sign of an allergic reaction.
True. True, for the Javan and Sumatran spitting cobras. When threatened, both spread their hood and can spray venom. Venom in the eyes causes intense pain, so go to a health facility straight away.
Indonesia's Ministry of Health guideline says the Javan spitting cobra (Naja sputatrix) and the Sumatran spitting cobra (Naja sumatrana), when angered, spread their hood and can spray venom. The Javan cobra usually lives in open areas such as rice fields, farmland and around settlements. WHO lists both spitting cobras among the snakes responsible for most bites in Indonesia.
According to WHO, venom in the eyes causes immediate and persistent intense burning pain, heavy watering, swollen eyelids and blurred vision up to temporary blindness. Severe complications such as permanent corneal scarring are known from African spitting cobras but have not been described in Asia. In Malaysia, 61 of 512 cobra injury cases referred to a consultancy service between 2020 and 2023 were eye injuries from spat venom.
Keep away from any cobra and call Damkar (fire and rescue) if one enters the house. If cobra venom gets into someone's eyes or someone is bitten, go to a health facility straight away.
Cultural beliefs are respected here; this page only explains what science knows. In an emergency, follow officers or health workers. All learning materials