Lone piglet found stranded in huge canal at Bukit Panjang

Poor piggy :(

Fiona Tan | August 22, 2021, 02:21 PM

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A lone piglet has found itself in the most unlikely of places: A canal at Bukit Panjang next to a residential estate.

Video sent by Tan.

Piglet was likely stuck

The wild boar was seen by a Mothership reader, who only wishes to be known as Tan, on Aug. 16 at around 4:15pm.

According to Tan, the piglet was stuck in the canal near Block 123 at Pending Road.

Video sent by Tan.

With no other wild boars in sight, the stranded piglet cut a lone figure in the wide canal.

Video sent by Tan.

Tan speculated that the piglet could have wandered into the canal from the opening, which was upstream.

He said the steps leading to the exit were steep and slippery, and the piglet was likely unable to make its way out.

Image sent by Tan.

Tan said he had called Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres), who redirected him to the National Parks Board (NParks).

After reporting the incident to NParks, Tan waited for 30 minutes before NParks called him back.

He told Mothership that NParks asked him to go home and added that they would handle the case the next day, if there are further reports.

Tan was unsure what happened to the piglet after that day as he did not pass by the canal after the incident.

In response to Mothership's queries, NParks' Director of Wildlife Management, How Choon Beng said that they were alerted to the case of a wild boar piglet stuck in a canal at Bukit Panjang on  Aug. 17 at 6:31pm.

Contractors from NParks’, who are trained in handling wildlife, arrived on site at 7:20pm to retrieve the piglet.

A health assessment was conducted by a veterinarian, and the piglet was observed to be in a weakened state of health, and assessed to be unlikely to survive in the wild, according to How.

As a result, How said the piglet was humanely euthanised on welfare grounds.

Other piglets stuck in urban infrastructure

A similar incident took place this week, where three piglets were stuck in a drain while their mother stood on the edge of it.

The incident, which was uploaded onto the Singapore Wildlife Sightings Facebook group, sparked a debate amongst netizens in the comment section over whether the passer-by should have approached the piglets to try and rescue them.

However, according to NPark's advisory, female boars are very protective of their young and can easily be provoked.

The man could put himself in danger if he had done so.

In addition, How said the public should not approach wild boars and should refrain from feeding them.

In the event of an encounter with a wild boar, How advised members of the public to remain as calm as possible and move away from the animal slowly.

He added that members of the public should keep a safe distance and do not corner, or provoke the wild boar.

Boar stories:

Top image from Tan