The mother of the Punggol otter family died on National Day 2020.

The otter was estimated to be around six or seven years old and the otter watchers first saw her back in 2017.

Back then the otter mum already had up to two litters of babies.

Punggol otter mum passed away on National day

Otter-loving Facebook group, Ottercity, updated that the Otter Working Group was alerted by National Parks Board (NParks) to a frail otter lying still on Coney Island on Aug. 9 at around 10:30am.

The ailing Punggol otter mum rested on the beach that was crowded with people as it was a public holiday.

One Ankur Samtaney and his friends visited Coney Island for the first time and saw the otter mum breathing heavily on the beach.

They then kindly offered it some water and kept an eye on it while waiting for help to arrive.

However, the otter mum soon left for a forested edge where it passed away in the company of some onlookers.

Speaking to Mothership, one otter watcher Marjorie Chong shared that some residents who have been watching the family cried after the otter passed on.

The otter mum died at around noon and the rest of the Punggol family swam past the beach at around 12:09pm, minutes after otter mum's passing.

The Punggol otter mum has left behind the otter dad, a young adult otter, and two otter pups.

Chong added that some of the otter watchers also insisted to give the otter mum a final send-off by transporting the carcass to Wildlife Reserves Singapore from Punggol for an autopsy.

The deputy chief executive officer of non-profit wildlife rescue group, Acres, Kalai Vanan, also told Mothership that they are saddened by Punggol otter mum's death.

Kalai also thanked members of the public for always being alert and inform the authorities promptly when any animals are spotted in distress.

Struggles of Punggol otters

The Punggol otter mum did not have an easy time leading its family by the coast while it's alive, especially in the past few weeks.

Earlier in June, it gave birth to five new pups, bringing the total number of otters in the family to nine.

The otter-loving community here has been monitoring the family since then.

In recent weeks, some young pups had been separated from the pack.

One was stuck with two abandoned fish hooks on its paw and mouth, and fortunately, the hooks came off when Acres went to check on the pup.

The family also had a harrowing experience with feral dogs last month.

The family has unfortunately lost three pups within a month's time and by August, the otter mum was visibly tired.

"It's part and parcel of being a wild animal. Not every wild animal will be able to survive and lead a full life. There are many issues they will face and that's how the population control itself," Kalai said with regard to these missing otter pups.

While the otter watchers tried to keep them safe, it's not always the case that they would interfere.

Even though they have noticed that the otter mum has become thin and looked unwell recently, they did not take the otter mum out of the pack for treatment.

This is because the otter mum was leading the pack and the young pups are still dependent on the otter mum for milk.

Any attempt to trap and capture can be stressful for the otters and some otters might die as a result as well.

Here's the video summarising the eventful July for the family:

Thankfully, the rest of the Punggol otter family are eating well and doing fine as of this morning, Chong told Mothership.

Here's a tribute post to Punggol otter mum from Ottercity: