Endangered Malayan tapir seen wandering around Defu Lane car park on Feb. 2

An endangered Malayan tapir was seen wandering around a Defu Lane car park past midnight on Feb. 2.

In videos shared by a Mothership reader, the tapir was seen calmly trotting and crossing between the parked vehicles.

Its black-and-white "saddle" coat was also prominently visible under the light.

According to the reader, the sighting occurred at around 12:30am.

In one of the videos, a woman could be heard loudly exclaiming: "Wild boar leh!"

Responding to queries from Mothership, How Choon Beng, Group Director of Wildlife Management at National Park Boards (NParks), said that NParks is aware of the sighting.

He shared that sightings of the tapir in Singapore are rare, with previous sightings documented in the Lorong Halus area in 2023 and in Pulau Ubin in 2024.

The most recent sighting was captured on a camera trap on Pulau Ubin in late-2025, according to How.

Members of the public are advised to remain calm and quiet and not to make any sudden movements should they encounter the tapir.

Do not attempt to approach or feed the animal.

Keep a safe distance and do not corner or provoke the animal, such as by using flash photography while taking pictures of it.

Members of the public should call the 24-hour Animal Response Centre at 1800-476-1600 to report any sightings of the tapir, How said.

Not native to Singapore

The Malayan tapir is classified as endangered under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, which means they face a high risk of extinction in the wild.

IUCN data indicates that Malayan tapir populations are declining, with 2,499 mature individuals left in the wild.

Malayan tapirs are not native to Singapore but are found throughout Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand.

It is the only species of tapir found in Asia and is the largest of all four species of tapirs.

They are known to be fast and agile swimmers.

They are also known to walk along riverbeds, can hold their breath for up to 90 seconds and may also use their trunk as a snorkel.

They have been sighted in Singapore as recently as 2024 on Pulau Ubin.

A tapir was also sighted in Punggol back in 2023.

Top image via Pixabay.