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A 40-year-old Singaporean man is currently in hospital after he was attacked by a wild boar at Zhenghua Park in Bukit Panjang.

What happened

The man, who wished to be known as JL, told Mothership that the incident happened while he was walking his dogs at 8:45pm on Thursday (Jun. 1).

"A wild boar appeared out of nowhere. I have seen them around and they are usually evasive. This one was rather hostile and started barging towards me."

The wild boar sinked its teeth into his left leg.

As it was about to charge at JL again, one of his dogs managed to fend it off.

The dog then proceeded to chase after the wild boar.

JL said that at this point, he was still able to run after his dog despite his injury. He lasted around 20 to 30 metres before he felt his leg grow heavy.

"[I] couldn’t move. I had to scream my dog's name many times, and it came back to me," JL said.

As JL lives near the park, he was able to get his wife to drive him to the hospital.

Required over 20 stitches

JL told Mothership that he went into surgery at around 2am on Jun. 2.

He required over 20 stitches on his left leg.

JL is still under observation in the hospital, and was given four to six weeks of medical leave.

Shocked but doesn't want anything bad to happen to the wild boar

JL told Mothership that he's "still feeling shocked" about what happened.

"We didn’t provoke the attack as it happened so suddenly I had no time to react at all. I'm still feeling shocked.

But [I'm] just glad that my dog is okay. This time it happened to me and I'm still fit and able to move. I can't imagine if it happened while I had my 17-month-old daughter with me."

He also said that he felt "fortunate" as his dog was there to protect him.

"It might’ve been worse if the boar continued its attack, or worse, cause harm to my dog. Its bite was extremely forceful, a bite to a dog's neck would definitely kill it."

JL added that wild boars are a common sight in the area. They are usually harmless, he said.

Despite what happened to him, he wished for nothing bad to happen to the wild boar.

He also hoped that the boar can be relocated instead of being captured and put to sleep, which had happened in the past.

What to do when you encounter a wild boar

While wild boars appear shy, they are still wild animals and are unpredictable in behaviour which could pose a risk to public safety, NParks said.

Like many other wild animals, wild boars will only attack if they are cornered or if they feel threatened, and female wild boars can be very protective of their young and can be easily provoked.

According to NParks, this is what you should do when you encounter a wild boar:

• Be calm and move slowly away from the animal. Do not approach or attempt to feed the animal.
• Keep a safe distance and do not corner or provoke the animal i.e. by using a flash while taking pictures of it.
• If you see adults with young piglets, leave them alone. These are potentially more dangerous because they may attempt to defend their young.
• Do not touch or pick up any sick or dead wild boars.

More information about wild boars can be found here.

Top images courtesy of JL.