Here is Sarawak the traditional hunting weapon is the blowpipe. The blowpipe, or keleput , is lighter and more accurate than a shotgun, is manufactured from forest materials, and uses ammunition that is readily replaced. The darts kill silently, allowing a hunter in certain instances to drop several animals or, alternatively, to take a second shot should the first miss.

The darts are dipped in a poison called tajem , prepared from the latex of a certain tree. Unlike curare, a muscle relaxant from the Amazon which kills by causing suffocation, tajem interferes with the functioning of the heart, causing lethal arrhythmias. While small creatures such as birds and squirrels die almost instantly from the effect of the poison, large animals like pig may live for many minutes before finally succumbing. During this time the hunter quietly tracks the dying animal.