Tarantula sneaks into S'pore woman's shower, released back into the wild

Spiders might be a common sight in Singapore, but certainly not this one.

One user shared a photo of a tarantula that managed to sneak its way into her house on Facebook group Singapore Wildlife Sightings.

"We had this visitor in our shower this morning," Facebook user Lenka Chvojkova wrote.

Released back into the wild

In the comment section, Chvojkova shared the tarantula was put into the "grassy area behind [their] fence", adding that she is "hoping [it] will not come back into the house".

She added that she was no stranger to wildlife in her house, as she lives in the Chestnut area, near some nature parks.

However, she said that this was "the rarest sighting so far".

Could be of the Singapore Black

One Facebook commenter shared that the tarantula could be of the Singapore Black, a "much rarer and much larger species belonging to the genus Selenocosmia".

According to the user, the particular species "still hasn't been given a definite identity".

He also notes that there are several species of tarantula in Singapore.

Keeping wildlife as pets

Singapore does not allow the keeping of certain animals, including tarantulas, as pets.

Under the Wildlife Act, a person must not intentionally keep or feed any wildlife in any place unless they have the Director-General, Wildlife Management’s written approval to do so.

Tarantulas, scorpions, and invertebrates which are prescribed as protected wildlife species are not allowed to be kept as pets.

In 2020, a 48-year-old Singaporean man was charged in court for keeping four tarantulas in a Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat along Punggol Place in 2018.

Top image via Lenka Chvojkova/Facebook