'It's like a thrill': More wildlife sightings in Singapore due to habitat change, people seeking out animals

SINGAPORE: After four years of camping out in forests during his spare time, Dr Woo Jiawei finally photographed a herd of wild sambar deers last month. 

The wildlife photographer spotted the shy, elusive animals just as he was leaving the forest, thinking it was just another wasted trip. 

"I was quite ecstatic of course, because I'd been waiting for this moment for years," said Dr Woo, a doctor who has been photographing Singapore's wildlife as a hobby since 2014. 

While some might attribute Dr Woo's encounter to sheer perseverance, those in the business of Singapore's biodiversity have observed more interest in and awareness of wildlife in recent years. 

The recent glimpses of a Malayan tapir and a silvered langur have underscored a pattern of more frequent wildlife sightings by locals. Shifting environments have also caused humans and animals to interact more frequently, experts told CNA. 

The rise of social media and accessibility of technology that captures animal encounters also contribute to the seeming trend of wildlife sightings.

SINGAPORE WILDLIFE SIGHTINGS GROUP NUMBERS "EXPLODED"

What started as a private group for Ms Rachel Tsang to share wildlife sightings with friends and family has grown in ways that the remote manager never imagined. 

It set the stage for the now-public Singapore Wildlife Sightings Facebook page, founded in 2009. 

"Later on, I decided to make it public instead of just limiting it to my private friends to share, to make it more interesting for other people. To let them know that actually, we have bigger animals in the forest," she said. 

For a decade, the group retained a modest 2,000 to 5,000 members – until COVID hit and the number just "exploded", Ms Tsang said. 

About 50,000 to 60,000 people joined in 2020 alone. Today, the group has more than 97,000 members.

Now, the page sees an average of 6,000 posts and comments a month, with photos of birds and snakes more commonly posted. 

Posts of rare animals, like the tapir, often garner the most interest. In the last month, the tapir and sambar deers were the page's top posts, each with more than 35,000 views. 

Asked why these posts are popular, Ms Tsang said: "It's like a thrill right? Without going to the Mandai Zoo, you see this in real life for free in our own natural environment.

"A lot of people still don't realise that we have animals in our forests."

Dr Woo admitted that before he got into photography, he "didn't expect Singapore to have much wildlife".

In 2014, he had a chance encounter with a kingfisher diving for fish as he was crossing a bridge in Pasir Ris. That experience kickstarted a nearly decade-long passion for him. 

Ms Tsang also noted that seeing wild animals in urban settings, like the park connector or on the roads, would likely pique people's interest. 

"It's like a mismatch of environments. Singaporeans, we just think of animals in the zoo ... But when you see them amongst us the impact is different. People are more interested to see (them)." 

OVERLAPPING HABITATS AND URBAN DEVELOPMENTS

Nature observers cited a variety of reasons behind the sightings, including how certain species might be thriving. 

Mr Ivan Kwan, who has been a nature guide for seven years, pointed at the oriental pied hornbill, wild boar, smooth-coated otter and raffles-banded langur as examples of species that are doing better now compared with decades ago, and are hence being seen more often. Some have also made the news for the wrong reasons.

Shrinking habitats could lead to some species "being seen more readily along the fringes of their habitat", especially more adaptable ones like the long-tailed macaque and wild boar, said Mr Kwan, the founder of Nature Adventure SG. 

"Feeding by humans, whether it's deliberate feeding, snatching of food from people, or food waste that is not properly disposed of, can also be a contributing factor leading to increased sightings of some species in certain areas."

For example, the long-tailed macaques at Chek Jawa used to be shy and elusive, but are now more visible as they harass people for food, probably after they were fed by visitors, he said. 

Other animals, like the crested goshawk and spotted wood owl, are now adapting to urban habitats even though they were previously found in forests or rural areas, said Mr Kwan. 

Considered very rare in the past, there are now several known breeding pairs of these two birds of prey in parks and urban residential neighbourhoods. 

The National Parks Board (NParks), the lead government agency for biodiversity conservation and management of animal health and welfare, said animals might wander into urban areas while exploring new territory. 

Its wildlife management group director Ryan Lee said migratory birds could be seeking new wintering grounds, or travel further south than they usually would.

"Some of these birds could also be vagrants that have flown off-course or were blown off-course. Sometimes, non-native species are sighted here because they are incidental stowaways on ships or escaped or abandoned pets," Mr Lee said. 

As part of NParks' Nature Conservation Masterplan, the agency has conserved core biodiversity areas such as the Bukit Timah and Central Catchment Nature Reserves and secured and enhanced a network of buffers in the form of nature parks, which provides more areas of refuge for wildlife, Mr Lee said. 

Mr Lee also pointed to efforts to monitor the population and movement of native species, such as through the use of camera traps. 

"The range of efforts put in place under the master plan, coupled with the growing interest amongst the public to explore nature areas, could have contributed to more sightings of ‘rare’ wildlife in recent years," Mr Lee said. 

ANIMALS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AROUND

Some like the common palm civet and reticulated python have been living near people, hiding in drains or roof spaces, but are only being noticed now due to interest in the animals.

Similar sentiments were echoed by the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES). 

The animal welfare charity's co-CEO Kalai Vanan Balakrishnan said he often heard statements like "I've been living here for 20 years, I've never seen a snake before, or I've never seen this bird before" in his line of work. 

"They call us for help to rescue the animal or take the animal away, and we tell them it's just that you didn't see it, they were always around." 

Mr Kalai Vanan knows of newer housing estates built along park connectors or water bodies where occupants were shocked to see large monitor lizards.

"We've invaded into their space," he said.  

Nature Society Singapore's Yeo Suay Hwee said: "Singapore is also developing, so here and there we have small corners ... cut off, developed, so definitely that would be one of the factors (that) squeeze their habitats."

Adding that Singapore's population has also grown over the years, the chairperson of the society's vertebrate study group described the situation between humans and wildlife as a "competition for living space". 

INTEREST PEAKED DURING COVID-19, BUT HAS DIPPED

Another reason for the increase in sightings could be one Singaporeans have heard before – the pandemic. 

Like Ms Tsang, Mr Kwan saw a spike in interest in local nature walks during the COVID-19 period. Demand has since eased, but the guide still sees a substantial number of queries from schools, companies and community organisations.

ACRES' Mr Kalai Vanan said the non-profit organisation was "surprised" by the number of calls it received during the pandemic. 

"We thought that we didn't have to rescue because if people were not walking around, nobody's going to see animals in distress. But we realised it's the other way around.

"More people were calling us, which is strange because people couldn't travel anywhere so people started roaming around. Naturally, with more people doing that, they're going to find more injured animals, more stranded animals and that sparked the interest."

People developed interests and hobbies that took them to nature, like hiking, cycling and photography. 

A downside to that was that people start getting too close to the animals, Mr Kalai Vanan said, cautioning against disturbing wildlife. 

Ms Tsang has seen people turn to her Facebook page for help when they glimpse an animal for the first time. 

"It's also a social need. Sometimes when you see an animal yourself, you don't know whether other people have seen it, you want to confirm ... it's really a tapir you saw," Ms Tsang said. 

"We don't know as much as the experts do, so we ask for more information online."

Similarly, those who spot "rare" animals also approach NParks. 

"Community stewardship and engagement also play a key role in supporting NParks’ biodiversity management and monitoring efforts. Some of these ‘rare’ wildlife sightings were made known to NParks through feedback submitted by volunteers and the public," NParks' Mr Lee said. 

Those who actively seek out animals, like Dr Woo, are driven by their passion for seeing animals in their natural habitat. 

"I always thought that you only see such wildlife overseas. You need to go overseas, make a trip to one of the jungles overseas. 

"But in recent years I realise that you don't really have to go overseas. You get to see wildlife in Singapore as well."