A pangolin was rescued from the roadside by wildlife rescue group Acres recently.

Spotted by the roadside

On June 16, one Brice Li spotted the scaly critter while running near Upper Thomson Road.

Li speculated that the pangolin had likely strayed out of the forest and towards the road.

You can watch the pangolin plodding around here:

The shy critter eventually sought refuge in the leaves and branches of a small tree.

As the creature was dangerously close to a road with heavy traffic, Li decided to call Acres for help.

Almost became roadkill

Pangolins often become roadkill, as they are slow movers and tend to curl up into a ball when threatened.

Although native to Singapore, the Sunda Pangolin is critically endangered here.

In the 30 minutes it took for Acres rescue officers to arrive at the location, Li kept a close eye on the poor critter.

Here, the rescue officers managed to bring the pangolin down with the help of a ladder:

Acres deputy chief executive officer Kalai Vanan told Mothership that it was fortunate Li had called for help, as the pangolin was likely to cross the road after it came down from the tree.

It was then sent to Wildlife Reserves Singapore for a health check, where vets discovered that it actually had a fractured leg.

Kalai also said that this little one will be released back into the wild subsequently.

You can watch the video of Acres' rescue operation here.

Home to wildlife

With patches of relatively undisturbed forests on both sides of Upper Thomson Road, wild animals have been spotted in the area occasionally.

Earlier this month, two primate researchers highlighted a plot of state land in the vicinity that is already slated for residential development.

However, this land the size of 200 football fields is home to critically endangered animals such as the Raffles' Banded Langurs and the Sunda Pangolins.

Therefore, researchers and those in the nature community urged the authorities to proactively account for nature capital and the ecosystem in their plans to develop that plot of land.

With the presence of wildlife, some unlucky ones were sighted in road accidents like this Sambar deer in 2019:

On several occasions, pangolins were found dead along Upper Thomson Road as a result of road accidents as well.

Top photo from Brice Lee / FB