Over the years, Typhoon Club has reported on many different and sometimes unusual sports. We came across one recently and it takes place every September in the jungle areas of northern Thailand. It’s beetle fighting. We found it to be very interesting.
Beetles known as Rhinoceros Beetles are usually chosen for fighting. Some grow to be seven centimeters long. Close up they look extremely scary, just like the monsters you see in cartoons. Mating season for the rhinoceros beetle takes place every September. The males become very aggressive and often fight. With little else to do in the remote jungle farms, the young farmers and farmhands redirect the beetles aggression and turn it into entertainment. It goes something like this:
Fights take place on a log of wood. It’s called a gorn. A hole is made in the log and a female beetle is placed there, unable to escape. Male beetles smell the female and will fight anything in its way to get at her.
The fight organisers find male beetles of a similar size to fight one another. The objective is for one beetle to push the other beetle off the log of wood. The two beetles lift and push their opponents using their huge horns. When one beetle lifts the other, it looks very dramatic and the spectators of this unique sport cheer their favourite beetle along. Bets are made on which beetle will win. It has been known for over HK$11,000 to be paid in one bet!
The beetles are sensitive to vibration so owners sometimes tap the log a few centimeters behind the beetle to encourage it to fight.
A good fighter should have a dark-coloured body with a red area under its wing. It will also have huge horns. It is possible to buy rhinoceros beetles in the area the fights are taking place. They cost as little as HK$10. A champion can sell for HK$600 or more. There are a few beetle breeders who travel around the region looking for what they think will be excellent fighters.
If a beetle’s horn is broken, it loses the fight. Occasionally, one beetle will give up and run away. If there is no winner after 12 rounds, the fight is declared a draw.
Could beetle fighting become your favourite sport? Do you think it would be entertaining to watch it on television? If you can buy a fighting beetle for as little as HK$10, it seems much cheaper than football or horseracing.
Watch two Rhinoceros Beetles fight
