In July 2017, the Bishan family of 10 otters chased a stray dog at the Gardens By The Bay.

Video:

Revenge

In 2018, in the Year of the Dog, the land dogs are asserting their dominance over the sea dogs in this see-saw battle over territory.

A series of photos posted to Nature Society Facebook on Feb. 14, 2018 showed stray dogs getting even with a family of otters at Lorong Halus, an area in Pasir Ris that is becoming more popular for its wetlands over the years.

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Sea dogs meeting sea dogs

Otters encroaching on areas inhabited by other animals is expected in landscarce Singapore.

Otters are even known to have vastly expanded their territory by pushing out other rival families to occupy areas and routes to waterways.

Fighting amongst otters is unavoidable.

Sea dogs meeting land dogs

Occasionally, wildlife will meet domesticated life, effectively pitting evolution against domestication:

Fear of otter overpopulation unfounded

There are a few reasons why the otter population in Singapore is growing but still under control.

As explained before, the otter population is not running amok because

1) Otter mortality rate is higher than their birth rate.

2) There are limited and only a handful of suitable habitats for otters in Singapore, and these spaces are mostly occupied.

3) Otter territory can range up to 20 kilometres, and different otter families will chase away or kill other otters in order to defend their homes.

Moreover, it is the humans who have overrun otters in the first place.

The otter population has only started growing here again in the 1990s.

This is despite otters having been in Singapore long before we gained independence.

But due to urbanisation and the resultant loss of habitats, these critters had to leave Singapore previously.

We are perhaps only actually spotting them in recent years owing to the advent of social media.

And getting to take and share photos and videos of land dogs and sea dogs playing boop in the Year of the Dog.