Singaporeans are now a stoic bunch when it comes to news of our trains, but in an almost symbolic twist, a monitor lizard has been caught lurking underneath a train at the depot.

It was subsequently dragged out by one of the staff, but not before being poked and laughed at by some of the other employees.

Watch the video:

[video width="352" height="640" mp4="https://static.mothership.sg/1/2017/11/smrt-monitor-lizard.mp4"][/video]

The video, which is roughly two-and-a-half minutes, shows one of the staff dislodging the animal from beneath the train, where it was being guided out by a dustpan.

Towards the end, however, a man attempted to speed up the process by dragging the monitor lizard out by its tail -- something the reptile shouldn't be pleased with, judging by its reaction.

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In an incident that would have otherwise been classified as mildly amusing, Singaporeans took the opportunity to express their dissatisfaction towards the transport operator:

In response to Mothership.sg queries, Patrick Nathan, vice president for corporate communications of SMRT has confirmed that a monitor lizard was found in one of their depots on Nov. 28 and was removed.

However, according to Kalai Vanan, Deputy Chief Executive of Acres, the removal process could potentially harm what was likely a water monitor lizard.

Probing the lizard with a pole, dragging it by its tail, as well as the presence of a crowd can result in stress and defensiveness from the animal.

As a possible consequence, the staff manhandling the lizard could have been bitten (although this was not the case in the video).

Nonetheless, ACRES expressed their gratitude to the SMRT staff for letting the lizard go.

Members of the public who have discovered animals far from their homes should call the Acres Wildlife Rescue Hotline 97837782 for assistance.

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