Wildlife of Singapore (that you might encounter)

Singapore. A tiny city-state. 100% urbanised. No wildlife right? Okay you got some otters. What else?

This is "Singapore - Wild City" (No, it's not about our slutty women. It's a Nature series. Narrated by Sir David Attenborough. It's not erotica... unless you find David Attenborough's voice sexy... You too? Join the club!)

Smooth-coated Otters

You may encounter these creatures in the Marina Bay/Singapore River Area. Or even at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. There are several families or clans. These territorial creatures stay within their respective "turfs". The three most observed otter families are the Bishan family/clan, the Marina family/clan, and the Zouk family. 

Otters tend to ignore humans, but there was an incident where a jogger was attacked by a family of otters. There is no video of the attack, but some otter-lovers/defenders suggested that perhaps the jogger veered into the group and the otters felt that their pups were being threatened. One person even suggested that she might've stepped on a pup.

The jogger is fine. She managed to get away. On the bright side, she set a personal best that day.

Video: Otters of Singapore - Philip Johns TED talk (14 mins)

Red Junglefowl (or you might call them "chickens")

If you see one, note the colour of their legs. If it is yellow, it's a chicken, and if you can catch it -- dinner! If it's grey, it's a Red Junglefowl. And if it has red legs, are you sure you're not in Sri Lanka?

So, no. These are not chickens. You may see them in the Singapore Botanic Gardens, Bishan Park, and many other parks. From my personal experience Bishan Park has quite a lot of them,

Yes, they are the pre-cursors to domestic Chickens. So if you do managed to catch and eat one, it'll probably tastes like chicken. So... don't waste your time. It's not Hainanese Chicken Rice.

Long-tail Macaques (Pronounced "mer-kack", not "mer-kak-kwey")

If you wander off the Touristy areas into our rainforest, and "wilder" parks (or even just MacRitchie Reservoir), you may encounter Macaques. Our NParks has the advisory (video above). I am really intrigued by the advice not to make eye contact. Why? Would sparks fly? Will he want to bring you back to meet his parents? Or will she want to meet your parents? Join your family for Thanksgiving/Christmas/Chinese New Year/Hanukkah/Tet? Will there be a possibility of a hook-up or only after a second or third date? So many questions that you can avoid simply by not making eye contact!

Also plastic bags. The habituated monkeys have come to associate plastic bags with food. So they will snatch at plastic bags. Or other bags in some cases. So keep bags out of sight as far as possible.

Malayan Water Monitor (not a Komodo Dragon).

How to tell if it is a Water Monitor. 

If it runs away from you, it's probably a water monitor. 

If it runs TOWARDS you, just RUN! Does it REALLY matter what it is? Okay, it's NOT a WATER MONITOR!

If you see a really huge one (like say, with a body over a metre long (3 feet for you Americans), take a picture and tell your friends it's a Komodo Dragon. They won't know the difference. Probably.

And if you're lucky, 

... you can see wildlife interacting with each other!

Hornbills

WARNING! Graphic Bird-on-bird violence in the following video!

So... if you see a hornbill, your priority is to protect your little bird. (If you don't have a little bird, feel free to appreciate the hornbill in the wild. And if it eats a caged bird (not yours), take a video.)

I've seen hornbills in the Changi-Loyang area.

Wild Boars

I've only ever seem Wild Boars (in the wild) on Pulau Ubin. But there have been sightings around the Central Catchment Area (where our central reservoirs are), and in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Do remember that these are "WILDlife" and are not domesticated or otherwise trained to tolerate tourists who think a selfie with a Wild Boar would be so leet or cool or whatever's the current term. Look, these are WILD Boars. The "Wild" is in their name. They are not called "Emo Pigs with Goth Tendencies (and hairstyles)". 

So treat them like WILDlife!

Other less frequently seen wildlife (so you would be so lucky if you do see one of these!)

You may also see other less frequent wildlife (probably lost), like Tapirs, Elephants (unconfirmed. Eye witness may be drunk. Or named Sang Nila Utama,) and Tigers (also unconfirmed), Sambar Deers, Mouse deer, and Crocodiles. Sungei Buloh Wetlands has a "resident" crocodile, so your best chance of seeing a crocodile is to go to Sungei Buloh Wetlands. But they can be found at many coastal regions around Singapore. Occasionally.

Then there are squirrels, tropical insects (like stick insects and leaf insects, huge ants), birds like herons? white parrots?

Singapore's Nature reserve (forests) cannot sustain Tapirs, Elephants, or Tigers. So these animals (if sighted) are most likely from Johor. They probably swam across the Johor Strait. Which is only about 1 km wide or less at some places. So, they are illegal immigrants. Here's a video of a tapir running from our immigration officers (probably).

[7 Feb 2024 addendum: 

Grey headed Fish Eagle hunting]

[28 June 2024 addendum:

Thomson Nature Park.]

[22 Feb 2025 addendum: Wildlife Singapore - Sungei Buloh

Sungai Buloh ("Soong-Ai Boo-low", not "Sun-guy Bull-oh") is a mangrove/ marshland/ coastal wetland reserve with a resident crocodile and other local wildlife. It is recommended that you come early, as once the day gets warmer, the wildlife disappears (takes a siesta). It is also recommended that you time your visit to low tides... so you have to find a day when it is low tide at daybreak/sunrise to maximise your chance of seeing wildlife.... Also, bring a camera with a long telephoto lens!]