A French parkour artist survived 10 days with an Indonesian tribe identified to eat monkeys. The nature lover, well-known for his movies climbing in timber and unconventional journey locations, shared his expertise searching within the jungle and even tasting primates.
Taking to his standard YouTube channel final month, Léo City uploaded a video the place he gave some insights on his expertise staying with a Mentawai tribe.
The tribe lived in umas, conventional houses, positioned in Siberut in an archipelago off the coast of Sumatra, which is a big Indonesian island west of Java and south of the Malay Peninsula, identified for its rugged tropical terrain, wildlife, and smoldering volcanoes.
Léo City, a French parkour artist, survived 10 days with the Mentawai tribe, identified to eat monkeys
Immersing himself within the tribe’s way of life, which he described as residing with out electrical energy, supermarkets, or hospitals, Léo adopted a household’s fierce hunters by tough jungle terrains.
“To outlive, the Mentawai have grow to be the masters of their setting,” Léo mentioned on digital camera as he was welcomed by a neighborhood household, who he mentioned already raised chickens and pigs.
The tribe adopted strict guidelines and rituals, guided by their Shaman, whom Léo mentioned “is aware of the jungle by coronary heart” and used vegetation for medication.
In truth, earlier than going out into the jungle to hunt, tribe members have been to endure rituals, providing a particular fruit picked from timber in order to not offend the jungle’s spirits.
Fetching the fruits, which have been recognized because the smelly durian fruit, was proven to be a problem in itself, because the tribe’s hunters have been to climb high-ground branchless timber utilizing a formidable method counting on slicing small openings within the wooden with a machete.
Léo, regardless of his abilities as a parkour athlete, struggled to maintain up with the tribe’s tempo, and he went on to point out how hunters made toxic arrows utilizing a combination that included scorching peppers.
Earlier than searching within the jungle, the tribe members carried out rituals, together with providing durian fruits to appease the jungle spirits
The YouTuber additionally filmed a bittersweet second when the Mentawai folks lower down an enormous tree, clarifying: “They adapt completely to their ecosystem, taking solely what they want.”
Léo later confirmed that the tree had been used for its integrity, together with getting used to carve out a brand new bench for his host household.
At some factors, the adventure-seeker candidly shared that he was affected by a case of diarrhea, which the household’s Shaman tried to deal with with rituals. The next day, Léo did admit to feeling higher.
Léo captured the Mentawai folks’s sustainable use of a giant tree, which they repurposed for varied wants
Within the video, Léon additional filmed the tribe’s excellent searching abilities, emphasizing: “They hunt boars, dears, however essentially the most prestigious animal to hunt is the monkey.”
“It’s an excellent delight for them to carry a monkey again to the uma,” he added.
Léon captured the second a Mentawai hunter efficiently struck a squirrel in a tree with one in every of his poisoned arrows. The content material creator’s host household cooked the rodent and ate it at a later stage.
“Yesterday, we heard a gaggle of monkeys in proximity, so we determined to go away at daybreak for an opportunity to method them,” Léon declared in his footage earlier than noting that in Siberut, all monkey species are endemic, and solely the Mentawais are allowed to hunt them.
The tree climber additional defined that the tribe was searching Langurs, a normal identify given to quite a few species of Asian monkeys belonging to the Colobinae subfamily.
Filming the arduous work encompassing excessive vigilance, pace, and memorable agility, Léon confirmed the second a 50-year-old hunter climbed a tree earlier than confirming that the hunt for monkeys had been profitable.
Léon described the expedition to hunt langurs, documenting the Mentawai tribe’s expert and profitable monkey hunt
The tribe managed to catch three or 4 monkeys, which they ended up cooking for the entire household, who fortunately feasted on the dear catch of the day.
Léon showcased the quite a few monkey skulls that have been hung up across the uma, which he defined had been preserved for non secular functions.
“They protect their cranium in order that the household can take care of the creatures’ souls whose life was taken,” the Youtuber concluded.
In accordance with his official web site, Léo grew up at 1600m of altitude within the mountains of Andorra, beginning parkour on the age of 12 earlier than rapidly taking on his self-discipline into forests.
Léo claims that he self-taught himself how one can develop his “large bodily capacities” by contact with nature.
“Since I used to be a toddler, I’ve all the time had a giant fascination for animals,” the freerunner athlete says. “After 16 years of observe, this inspiration follows and guides me nonetheless.”
Léo’s parkour trademark is to carry out barefoot, in nature, and ideally, surrounded by different animals; a passion that has already seen him encounter snakes, orangutans, and cheetahs.
“They solely take as a lot as they want,” a viewer commented on social media
