Smooth-coated otters are a common sight in Singapore.
Being semiaquatic animals, you might have seen them paddling about in our local rivers, canals and reservoirs with their webbed paws.
The airport runway, however, is decidedly not their usual haunt.
All the same, a reader by the name of Mehdi sent Mothership a video of a romp of at least six otters trotting along on the Changi airport tarmac, seemingly in a holidaying mood:
Video courtesy of Mehdi
Mehdi took the video from the window seat of his 9:05am Singapore Airlines flight to Vietnam on Apr. 17, 2024.
Mehdi told Mothership that a few other passengers also spotted the errant otters.
Noticing the otters, a few people pointed at the window, “amused” and “happy to have a distraction during boarding”.
Otters were "gently guided away"
According to Mehdi, the otters had their brief vacation cut short after ground staff “quickly noticed” them.
Apparently, the otters initially “moved under the luggage carriers”, but staff “quickly managed the situation” and “gently guided” the otters away from the aircraft.
Mehdi said that the whole encounter only lasted a “few minutes”. As a result, there was apparently little to no disruption to the boarding process, and the plane Mehdi was on took off on time.
Mehdi added: “It's great to see that even in such situations, we still respect and coexist with wildlife.”
In response to Mothership's queries, Changi Airport Group said that the otters were "safely dispersed into a canal" and there were no further sightings after.
It added that their wildlife management team continues to monitor and be alert to such situations.
Not the first time
Believe it or not, otters have wandered onto the airport runway before.
Back in Nov. 2017, for instance, otters from the Pasir Ris family had ventured into the airport, instead of turning left to Pasir Ris from Changi Creek.
Something similar could have happened this time.
A Changi Airport Group (CAG) spokesperson previously shared that the Airside Safety team was activated to guide the otters safely out towards Changi Beach.
Top photo courtesy Mehdi