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A pack of nine wild dogs was seen surrounding a solitary otter and attempting to bite or nip at it.
The dogs appeared to disperse after onlookers tossed stones into the water near the animals.
A 45-second clip of the tense interaction was uploaded on TikTok by user @wxn0103 in the evening on Jan. 2.
@wxn0103 #Otter #PK #dog ♬ original sound - wxn0103
Dogs try to bite otter
The nine dogs were seen circling around the otter, barking at it and taking turns to try to bite it from the rear.
The otter was at first able to fend off its attackers by turning in circles and lunging at the ones that got too close.
However, a few dogs appeared to be able to bite the otter, causing it to recoil.
Its squeaks also got louder at these points, leading some to conclude that it was in pain from the bites.
Dogs disperse after stones thrown
Toward the end of the video clip, a stone is thrown into the canal near the animals, presumably by onlookers.
This causes some of the dogs to back off.
Then, a second stone lands with a loud splash.
The dogs retreat even further, and the video clip ends.
The clip was shared on the Singapore Wildlife Sightings Facebook group, where some commenters pointed out that the dogs might not have malicious intent, and could have just been playing with the otter.
Other said that the throwing of stones interfered with nature taking its course:
While others focused their attention on the issue of stray dogs.
A number of commenters also compared the lone otter to a familiar character:
Location of incident unknown
The location of the incident resembles the canals in Singapore, where otters are often seen.
However, the video contains little else that suggests its exact location.
Otters and dogs have been seen facing off previously.
The smooth-coated otters commonly seen in Singapore are known to be territorial.
While they tend to move around in groups, they have been spotted alone as well, at times.
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Top image via @wxn0103 on TikTok
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