A man who was driving along the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) during the early hours of the new year was treated to a rare sight: a herd of sambar deer.

First time he has seen deer by the roadside

Speaking to Mothership, TikTok user Jason Ng said he was on his way home when he spotted what he described as a "foreign object" on the opposite side of the expressway, at the overpass located at the five-and-a-half kilometre mark.

The time, Ng noted, was between 2:50am and 3am.

Ng added that he was intrigued by the sight and decided to make a U-turn back to take a closer look.

Upon realising that it was a herd of deer, he decided to take out his phone to film the scene.

"I was surprised and unexpectedly happy at that time, so I took out my phone and took a photo to record it," he added.

A video uploaded by Ng to TikTok showed several deer wandering on the grass beside the expressway and underneath the overpass.

A@jason_7135 2024 新的一年❤️❤️❤️ 巧遇野生鹿 🥳🥳2024（ 福鹿平安） #金城海鲜园 #香城海鲜馆 #singaporetiktok ♬ 原聲 - Jason Ng

According to Ng's estimation, there were about seven to eight deer and he speculated that the deer could have been grazing.

"I think this is the first time I have seen it on the roadside in 20 years in Singapore," he said.

Sambar deer population on the rise

Sambar deer were once thought to be wiped out from Singapore by 1950.

After some individuals escaped from public and private local zoos in the 1970s, the sambar deer population has gradually re-established itself.

In 1997, the Nature Society Singapore (NSS) estimated that there were three deer in the wild.

In 2021, the National Parks Board (NParks) put the number at around 15.

According to a study published in February 2023, the sambar deer population has been on the rise in recent years.

Their numbers are increasing in forested areas such as the Central Catchment Nature Reserve and Bukit Timah.

The sambar deer is considered a vulnerable species.

Top screenshots via Jason Ng/TikTok