IPOH: The two-year-old secret is finally out – the hills are alive with tarantulas. Blue ones, what’s more.

       The rare, blue-coloured tarantula (pic) was actually discovered in Gunung Matsoorat in 2019.

       “We did not reveal our findings before as we were worried that there would be people or collectors encroaching into the hill to look for them,” said Masoorat Heritage Park managing director Megat Mohd Shahril.

       He said the rare spider was found in Gunung Matsoorat here in 2019 and, since then, security guards had been patrolling the area.

       Megat said specialists had been called in to do a study on the tarantulas.

       “We are not sure how they came about and we hope to find more and also their breeding grounds,” he added.

       Explaining further why this was kept under wraps, he said: “There was a big issue a few years back when a pair of the tarantulas with blue legs were believed to have been smuggled to Europe from Sarawak.”

       In 2019, a pair of Birupes simoroxigorum were believed to have been smuggled to Europe following the publication of a paper on the new species in The Journal of the British Tarantula Society by arachnologists Ray Gabriel and Daniella Sherwood, affiliates of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

       The tarantula was reportedly first discovered in the forests of Batang Salak, Sarawak, by photographers Chien Lee and Lars Fehlandt, a German, in September 2017.

       The Sarawak Forest Department said it had not issued any licence or permit for the tarantulas to be exported, which raised the question as to how the specimens managed to reach the United Kingdom.

       Speaking to reporters yesterday during a visit to the hill, Megat also said they found some trapdoor spiders, believed to be similar to the ones found endemically in Kanthan, Chemor.

       “We are not sure whether it is of the same species or a new one and we hope the specialist can identify it.

       “Flora and fauna at limestone hills are usually endemic to the area, meaning that they can only be found in that specific location,” he said.

       Apart from the spiders, Megat said there were several interesting plants at Gunung Matsoorat, including the horse tail creeper and the elephant foot yam.