Wyatt Ang was walking along 60 Stevens Road on Jun. 10, 2024, when he found a raptor chick.

A man then approached him, claiming he had a second raptor chick with him and wanted Ang to hand over the chick he rescued from the ground.

The man claimed he wanted to "take care of them".

After Ang refused and reported the incident to the National Parks Board (NParks), the man allegedly left with the second raptor chick.

NParks managed to retrieve the raptor chick on the same day and is investigating the incident.

Rescued one chick

Speaking to Mothership, Ang shared that he first noticed an "unusually large bird just sitting in the middle of the road".

Upon approaching, the bird turned out to be a helpless crested goshawk chick.

Fearing that it might get run over by oncoming vehicles, Ang picked the chick up and carried it to the roadside.

Man allegedly disturbed nest, had taken one chick

That was when he was approached by a man who identified himself as a contractor working on-site at the Metropolitan YMCA building.

Ang said the man claimed to have been eyeing the goshawk nest for several weeks and decided to disturb it using a boom lift.

Spooked, the goshawk parents flew away, and the two stunned chicks fell out of the nest.

The man apparently told Ang that he had the second chick with him in his car, and had been searching for the chick Ang rescued.

The man then showed Ang the second chick, which he had kept in a pail in the car's boot.

When asked what he planned to do with the chicks, the man (pictured in a black shirt below) allegedly said he wanted to "keep it and take care of it".

Sharing about the incident in the SG Birds and Wildlife Sharing Group on Telegram, Ang noted that he had asked the man not to take the bird.

"[The man] don't listen and ask me not to tell authorities that he took the other chick already in his white vehicle," he added.

Man drove off with one chick

Meanwhile, Ang kept a close eye on the chick he rescued.

As he works at the New Ubin Seafood restaurant at MYMCA, which was a short distance away, he managed to retrieve a cardboard box to temporarily house the chick in.

In the meantime, Ang informed the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) about the situation.

As Ang had to run off to a meeting, another member of the SG Birds and Wildlife Sharing Group on Telegram also made a report to NParks on his behalf.

In an update a short while later, Ang shared that he "came out [of the building] real quick" and noticed that the white car allegedly housing the second chick had driven off.

Thankfully, NParks officers arrived on scene at around 6:45pm, an hour after the report was made.

Ang also noticed that the goshawk parents had returned to the tree they had been nesting in, and were frantically searching for their chicks.

One chick euthanised

In a subsequent update on Telegram at around 10pm on the same day, Ang revealed that the second chick had been successfully recovered by NParks.

NParks had managed to track down the white vehicle, Ang said.

In response to Mothership's queries, How Choon Beng, NParks' Group Director of Wildlife Management & Outreach, stated that the two chicks had fallen from a tree "due to neighbouring works".

"One chick was sheltered by a member of the public until NParks arrived, while the other chick was allegedly removed by an individual," NParks said.

NParks shared that it was able to retrieve the chick the same evening.

It is investigating the matter.

Both chicks were brought to NParks’ Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation (CWR) to determine their suitability for release back to their nest.

Unfortunately, it was discovered during a health examination conducted by the veterinarians at CWR that one of the chicks was "in very poor body condition".

The chick had an abscess behind the tongue, which affected its ability to eat.

NParks revealed that it was thus euthanised on welfare grounds.

Thankfully, the other chick is doing well.

It is an offence under the Wildlife Act to take or keep any wildlife in any place unless the person has the Director‑General’s written approval to do so.

First-time offenders may be fined up to S$10,000 or imprisoned for up to six months, or both.

If assistance is required for wildlife-related issues, members of the public may call the 24-hour Animal Response Centre at 1800-476-1600.

Poaching in Singapore

Poaching wild animals involves extracting them from their natural environments and, in some cases, killing them with the intent to sell, according to NParks.

Those convicted of killing, trapping, taking or keeping any protected wildlife will be liable to a fine of S$50,000 or imprisonment for up to 2 years, or both.

Birds that are considered protected wildlife include hornbills, owls, and falcons and eagles under the order Falconiformes.

Crested goshawks, however, fall under the order Accipitriformes.

If members of the public see any suspected poaching activities, they can provide details of the incident and evidence in the form of videos and photos to www.avs.gov.sg/feedback or call the Animal Response Centre at 1800-4761600.

Top photo courtesy of Wyatt Ang