June 16, 2017, 04:31 PM 
It has begun — some people in Singapore seem to now officially see our otter friends as pests.
Just last week, the father otter from the Marina otter family was reportedly suspected to have died after going missing.
And on Thursday, Singapore otter-loving community OtterWatch put up a rather cryptic-sounding post on the death of an otter from the Bishan family:
This otter turned out to be a female. In a statement issued on Friday afternoon, PUB said one of its cleaning contractors found her body in a cage along Marina Promenade, in the Kallang Basin, late on Wednesday morning.
Dead otter in a cage found along the Marina Promenade in the Kallang Basin. Photo from PUB.
The agency immediately informed the Otter Working Group and the dead otter was handed over to Wildlife Reserves Singapore for a post-mortem. It added that investigations are ongoing.
According to Jeff Teo, an otter photographer and observer, the deceased in this instance is a female sub-adult from the second litter of the Bishan family of otters.
After its post-mortem, the Wildlife Reserve Singapore (WRS) told Mothership.sg that the female otter was young, and died of heat exhaustion.
Man found setting up traps in the area
On the same afternoon at about 5.30pm, a man was caught setting up traps in the reservoir along the Marina Promenade, the same area where the otter carcass in the cage was found.
PUB will be taking enforcement action against him under the Public Utilities (Reservoirs, Catchment Areas and Waterway) Regulations.
Besides being a despicably cruel act, it is an offence to trap any animal or do any act which causes injury to the fauna in any reservoir, and any person caught doing so may be fined up to $3,000.
Members of the public are also encouraged to call the PUB hotline at 1800-2255-782 (1800-CALL-PUB) should they spot any illegal acts at the reservoirs.
When reporting, it would be helpful to furnish the date, time and location, along with any photos and/or videos.
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Top photo from PUB
Related articles:
S’poreans intervene to defend fatherless Marina otters from Bishan otters
Daddy otter from Marina family suspected to have died after falling sick last few days
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