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A poor civet found itself in a real predicament in Alexandra canal along Zion Road on Mar. 2.
Fortunately, after a few hours, it managed to find its way out of the deep canal with the help of Animal Concerns Research and Education Society's (Acres) wildlife rescue team.
What happened
It was drizzling that day, and the water was moving steadily in the canal.
While the civet can swim, it appeared to be apprehensive and hesitant to move in the video uploaded by Nurliyana A.R. to Facebook group Singapore Wildlife Sightings.
Nurliyana said that her husband spotted this critter that was in need of help, and she called Acres for help.
GIF via Nurliyana A.R./ FB
Rescue fraught with difficulties
Kalai Vanan, Co-CEO of Acres, told Mothership that their wildlife rescue team had received multiple calls on their hotline as well as messages through social media about the civet since 4:45pm.
However due to peak hour traffic and bad weather, the rescue team which included Kalai himself, could only reach the location at about 6:15pm.
The rescue took hours due to "bad weather, situation and the fact that [they] were not allowed by authorities to enter the canal", Kalai shared.
A natural swimmer and climber, the civet moved to different areas, such as perching atop a white pipe, prior to Acres' arrival.
Image by Jeffrey Teo.
Image by Jeffrey Teo.
Abandoned initial plan, nudged it to climb a ladder
Kalai shared that initially, Acres wanted to capture the animal as they felt it could have suffered injuries or could have been weak.
The civet was estimated to be a young adult.
Image by Jeffrey Teo.
However, it was difficult to capture the civet.
The skittish animal avoided attempts to capture and even fell into the canal several times.
Understandably, it was a stressful situation for the civet.
Image by Jeffrey Teo.
With the water moving fast, Acres decided to abandon the plan to capture the civet as there was a risk that the animal may fall into the water and get carried away by the current.
Instead, they gave the civet an avenue to climb out by itself.
Acres placed a ladder on the side of the canal which flanked a green space, to avoid any potential traffic incidents if the civet ran away once it climbed out.
Wildlife rescue officer Aaron Hyberger put out the ladder. Image by Jeffrey Teo.
From there, it was a long wait of three hours for the weak civet to climb up the ladder.
Civet climbed up the ladder after three hours
At the start, the weak civet refused to move from the centre of the narrow floating debris trap in the canal.
Image by Jeffrey Teo.
Torches were shone to disturb the floating platform to nudge the civet to climb up the ladder.
After more than three hours, the civet finally started moving towards the ladder.
As civets are excellent climbers, it naturally took to climbing the ladder and finding its way out.
The civet disappeared into the surrounding area after climbing the ladder.
GIF via Kalai Vanan
A known habitat for wild civets
According to Kalai, there is no need to worry about the civet as this area is a known habitat for wild civets.
It will likely be able to adapt to its rather new surroundings.
This scenario is not new to the Acres wildlife team, having dealt with similar cases before with other animals like wild boars, squirrels, colugos and even a Raffles banded langur.
Acres shared that they are grateful that the National Parks Board (NParks) and members of the public showed their concern, with many offering ideas and assistance.
What are civets?
According to NParks, civets are commonly called "civet cats" and are also known as musang.
However, they are not cats but more closely related to mongooses.
These creatures have a long, sleek body, with short limbs, a long tail, long muzzle and small ears.
They are identifiable by their dark greyish brown body, with three dark stripes along the back and black spots on the sides, and a black "mask" across the face.
In Singapore, the Common Palm Civet is commonly-sighted.
They are nocturnal in nature and prefer to stay in trees and high places.
Helplines
If you sees a wild animal in distress, you can contact:
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- ACRES Wildlife Rescue Hotline (24-hour) at 9783 7782
- NParks Animal Response Centre: 1800 476 1600
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Images via Kalai Vanan