SINGAPORE: Two wild boars spotted in Bishan-Ang Mo
Kio Park on Friday morning triggered off more than three hours of
operation by the authorities to hunt them down.
The National Parks Board (NParks) says one boar had
charged at a security officer and a child.
The five-year-old was knocked off his feet from
behind, and landed about a metre away. Fortunately, no one was
seriously injured.
Authorities say the two wild boars wandered into the park early in
the morning.
One dashed off into the nature reserve of Lower Pierce when
officers arrived. The other remained, and hid in a bush.
Men, including those from a local pest control company, worked to
lure the animal out.
Eventually, just before 3pm, officers from the Wildlife Reserves
(Singapore) shot the boar with a dart gun.
MediaCorp understands the boar has been put down.
Ong Say Lin, Researcher at the National University of Singapore,
said: "I can say that yes, their distribution is more extensive
than expected. One of the hypotheses is that they have been
swimming over from Johor Bahru, or Pulau Tekong and Pulau Ubin.
Those are very likely sources of the wild boar migration.
"Also, right now wild boars, we can see them at the West Coast,
East Coast, at Pasir Ris, Changi and the Jurong area and also in
the north. So it's very likely they are coming from the northern
islands and Malaysia."
NParks says wild boar numbers at Lower Pierce have grown beyond
what's ecologically sustainable.
And their appearance at Bishan Park is another reason why they will
have to take urgent action to control the population.
But some residents at Old Upper Thomson Road, right next to the
nature reserve and its wildlife, say the pigs are part of the charm
of the neighbourhood.
"They've never been an issue to us. They usually appear late at
night, or during evening time, and they're very shy of
people."
"Culling seems a bit drastic, and kind of, permanent?"
Blogging on the issue, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan
backs NParks' decision to cull the animals.
He said the wild boar population needs to be managed and re-homing
them is, unfortunately, not an option.
- CNA/wk/de
