A circulating video on social media shows three to four men gathered at night near Lorong Halus to feed a large sounder of wild boars during the circuit breaker period.
Men gathered near Lorong Halus to feed wild boars
The two-minute video has been making its round since April 19, showing a man in red shirt, wearing a face mask, scattering bags of bread on the ground by the roadside.
Screenshot from Teoh Chee Boon's Facebook video.
Screenshot from Teoh Chee Boon's Facebook video.
Numerous wild boars can be seen in the video flocking towards the man to feast on the pieces of bread.
The boars do not seem to shy away from the man as he was spotted patting one of the boars.
Screenshot from Teoh Chee Boon's Facebook video.
There were at least six bags full of bread and another two men were seen in the video.
They supposedly helped throw the bags across the drain for the man in red to feed the boars.
A white van was parked by the roadside.
Concerns
Several viewers pointed out that while the men are "kind-hearted" and care for the wild boars, their actions might have unintended consequences.
The wild boars might be conditioned to treat people as a source of food and become reliant on human feeding.
They might then pose a risk to public safety when they get hungry.
The abundance of food can also lead to a spike in the wild boar population in that area and an increase in the population of wild boars may result in a higher frequency of human-wild boar conflict.
Those who watched this video also criticised the men for not staying at home during this period.
Those who flout the circuit breaker measures could be fined S$300 for the first time and face stiffer penalties for repeated offences.
Penalties for feeding wild animals in Singapore
According to the amended Wildlife Act that was passed in Parliament last month, feeding wild animals will be prohibited in the future.
For non-protected species like wild boars, first-time offenders could face a fine of up to S$5,000.
The men in the video, as well as six others, were caught by NParks on separate occasions over the weekend.
They will be charged for breaching the circuit breaker measures:
https://mothership.sg/2020/04/feed-wild-boars-pasir-ris-charged
Top photo collage from screenshots from Teoh Chee Boon's Facebook video.