[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/why-some-wild-animals-simply-cant-catch-a-break\/#NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/why-some-wild-animals-simply-cant-catch-a-break\/","headline":"Image crisis: Why some wild animals simply can’t catch a break","name":"Image crisis: Why some wild animals simply can’t catch a break","description":"On October 15 2021, the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) posted a video on Instagram, headlined \u201cWILD ANIMALS ARE NOT PESTS!\u201d.\u00a0 The post detailed a tragic incident of a paradise tree snake discovered on a university campus. By the time ACRES\u2019 Wildlife Rescue Team arrived at the scene, it had been stepped on […]","datePublished":"2021-11-12","dateModified":"2021-12-20","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/rachel-teng\/#Person","name":"Rachel Teng","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/rachel-teng\/","identifier":367,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rachel_Teng-100x100.jpg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rachel_Teng-100x100.jpg","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TheHomeGround Asia","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","width":640,"height":640}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/Credit-NA_1280x626.jpg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/Credit-NA_1280x626.jpg","height":626,"width":1280},"url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/why-some-wild-animals-simply-cant-catch-a-break\/","commentCount":"2","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/why-some-wild-animals-simply-cant-catch-a-break\/#Comment1","dateCreated":"2026-04-27 17:57:16","description":"I felt like this was written just for me.","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"men puma shoes","url":"https:\/\/globalshoepalace.com\/product-category\/men\/puma-men-shoes"}},{"@type":"Comment","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/why-some-wild-animals-simply-cant-catch-a-break\/#Comment2","dateCreated":"2026-04-25 12:30:47","description":"The examples really helped.","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Salomon gore tex shoes","url":"https:\/\/globalshoepalace.com\/product-category\/men\/Salomon-Men-Shoes"}}],"about":["Community","Environment","Local","Singapore"],"wordCount":1943,"keywords":["acres","animals","biodiversity","city in nature","herpetofauna","herpetological society singapore","Singapore","wildlife"],"articleBody":"On October 15 2021, the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) posted a video on Instagram, headlined \u201cWILD ANIMALS ARE NOT PESTS!\u201d.\u00a0The post detailed a tragic incident of a paradise tree snake discovered on a university campus. By the time ACRES\u2019 Wildlife Rescue Team arrived at the scene, it had been stepped on and sprayed with an oil-based aerosol insecticide by a pest control company.\u00a0Despite their wildlife veterinarian\u2019s best efforts to provide it with oxygen therapy, fluids, and medication, the snake did not survive the night.\u00a0\ufeff\ufeffMr Sivasothi N, senior lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences at the National University of Singapore (NUS), commented, \u201cThis is horrific and disappointing.\u201d\u00a0This incident did not occur in isolation. In 2021 alone, ACRES reported seven similar cases of wild animals being sprayed with chemicals, trapped unethically, or otherwise mishandled in ways that led to suffering and death.\u00a0\u201cThere have been incidents of herpetofauna (snakes and lizards) dying in the process of relocation. Pest control units would often use sprays with the intention of just flushing out the animals, but these sprays can be toxic enough to be fatal,\u201d adds Mr Shivaram Rasu, secretary of the Herpetological Society Singapore (HSS).\u00a0Mr Xavier Tan, urban beekeeper and founder of bee garden Nutrinest, recounted a similar incident on his social media on 5 October.\u00a0\ufeff\ufeff\ufeff\ufeff\ufeff\ufeff\ufeffOne of his clients in Sengkang estate, Mr K Balasubramaniam, 51, had reached out to him regarding a beehive outside his HDB flat \u2014 the second one in the past one and a half years.\u00a0\u201cThe first time, the hive was very close to the lift at the common corridor, so our neighbours were quite scared of the bees,\u201d Mr Bala tells TheHomeGround Asia. One of his neighbours wanted to call the town council to \u201cget rid of it\u201d, but his daughter came across Mr Tan online and they managed to relocate the hive to Nutrinest\u2019s bee garden.\u00a0\u201cInitially, I was also afraid of bees. Such fear is common,\u201d he says. \u201cBut seeing how Xavier removed the bees, I actually realised that they were not dangerous at all. In fact, they were friendly. It was an eye-opening experience.\u201d\u00a0When a second hive formed, Mr Bala decided he wanted to keep the bees and coexist with them. He even knocked on the doors of all eight neighbours on the same floor to explain that the bees pose no real threat. All of them agreed.\u00a0\u201cIn my culture, it is believed that when bees build a hive at our doorsteps, it represents our ancestors coming to visit,\u201d he says. \u201cI appreciate the bees\u2019 contribution to mankind and respect the lives of thousands of bees living in the hive.\u201dThe hive was happily settled within their estate without any complaints for 50 days. Mr Bala even put up a \u201cstay away\u201d notice and provided the bees with an umbrella to shield from heavy storms.Mr Bala designed his sign with cartoons “so that people won’t be afraid of the bees”, and put up an umbrella to shield the bees from bad weather (background). (Photo courtesy of Mr Bala)Unfortunately, on the afternoon of 5 October, Star Pest Contractor came without any prior notice and exterminated all the bees. \u201cMy neighbours tried to stop the pest contractors from destroying the hive, saying, \u2018Mr Bala is on his way back, please wait for him or talk to him on the phone now,\u2019 but the contractor refused to take my call,\u201d he says.\u00a0Addressing irrationalities\u00a0It is a tradition to call pest control as Singaporeans are busy making ends meet that they don’t have time to understand or prioritise wildlife, says Mr Tan. \u201cBy now, we must realise that a lot of bees are dying, and without them, we will suffer too,\u201d he adds.\u00a0As the world\u2019s main pollinator, bees are the unsung heroes of the global food supply chain. Out of 100 crop species that provide 90 percent of the world\u2019s food supply, 71 are bee-pollinated, and bee pollination is valued at more than $15 billion in crop values in the United States alone.\u00a0In parts of rural China, the use of pesticides has eliminated bees to the point where humans have to painstakingly hand-pollinate their crops. This is why Mr Tan has decided to raise awareness about these uncharismatic but ecologically critical creatures, and address misconceptions that people have while helping citizens relocate beehives.\u00a0\u201cFor an animal to be classified as a pest, they have to fit certain criteria, such as being a vector for spreading diseases. But bees don\u2019t do that,\u201d he says.\u00a0ACRES deploys a wildlife management team to address the public\u2019s lack of knowledge, managing more than 140 human-wildlife conflicts in a month. Snakes, Ms Anbarasi Boopal, Co-CEO of ACRES says, often have \u201cthe worst rep\u201d. They take the brunt of the damage when complications happen.\u00a0ACRES’ wildlife rescue team relocating a reticulated python. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen cobras being torched, poured hot water on, or restrained with rubber bands all around its mouth,\u201d says Anbarasi Boopal, Co-CEO of ACRES. (Photo courtesy of ACRES)Agreeing that snakes unfortunately, have a bad reputation which they certainly do not deserve, Dr Sonja Luz, Vice President of Conservation, Research & Veterinary, Mandai Wildlife Group says they are “amazingly beautiful and most species are actually quite harmless unless provoked”.“It is important to recognise that just like humans, snakes have a lung and needs to breathe, and they have organs throughout their elongated body that can be injured when you step on it. Because of misconception and fear, often people treat them like creatures that have no feelings, no pain receptors. They put them in plastic bags, tie them up and put them in the hot car and then the disaster happens,” she says.Dr Luz says encountering snakes in the wild is “a privilege and opportunity to admire them from afar”.\u00a0“For most parts, the snakes will leave on their own, otherwise there are wildlife experts who can assist in conflict situations \u2013 for the safety and wellbeing of both humans and animals,” she adds.\u201cMost often, these cases arise from a lack of awareness which leads to fear. When people are fearful, they do the wrong things, which also puts themselves in danger. Handling these cases actually gives us an opportunity to raise awareness on the issue,\u201d says Ms Anbu, who sees more value in engaging with the unconverted.\u00a0\u201cNot every wild animal is going to come up to you and hug you like a pet would. I always say that neutral experiences are positive experiences, whereas having no experience is a negative experience when it comes to wildlife,\u201d she adds.\u00a0Everything involves a risk, Mr Tan points out. \u201cThe last known fatal incident involving bees in Singapore happened in 2014, and that was due to many factors, one of which was that the bees had been provoked beforehand,\u201d he says.\u00a0In contrast, about 2.73 in 100,000 citizens are involved in fatal road accidents in Singapore \u2014\u00a0higher than the road fatality rates of London, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. \u201cBut people are still on the road. The difference is that people think they can control the situation when they are on the road, but when it comes to bees, they feel (that they are) not in control,\u201d he says. \u201cSo if we can educate people on the minimal risks, maybe they wouldn\u2019t be so worried.\u201d\u00a0What it means to live in a City in Nature\u00a0Ms Anbu believes that a key root cause of the issue is Singaporeans\u2019 estranged connection with nature. \u201cI see on Facebook that some of our citizens still don\u2019t really know what a monitor lizard is and are alarmed by sightings of them. This shows that we still have a lot of work to do,\u201d she says.\u00a0Apart from the fast-paced lifestyles that Singaporeans lead, an additional reason for this could be that the government\u2019s rapid greening efforts in recent years has driven more wildlife into the urban area than what the average Singaporean is prepared for.\u00a0Hence, the first step is for Singaporeans to familiarise themselves with their island-state\u2019s native biodiversity \u2014 and to stop calling monitor lizards \u201cKomodo dragons\u201d, Ms Anbu says.\ufeffSecondly, taking simple measures to minimise conflicts with wildlife can go a long way. \u201cMaybe some people are scared. It\u2019s okay to be scared and not love wildlife, but there\u2019s no need to hurt them, right?\u201d says Ms Anbu, who draws an analogy to living next door to neighbours one might not get along with.\u00a0She says should you be faced with noise nuisance from maintenance works, you might choose to use earplugs while sleeping. Similarly, if you live in an area just outside of a nature reserve, then you should consider simply securing the cupboards with baby locks to prevent curious macaques from accessing the things inside, she adds.ACRES empathises that residents living near nature reserves might be facing actual disruptions from wild animals, and it would listen to their challenges, offer long term solutions, explain why there is no need to fear, and tell them about the ecological roles these animals play.\u00a0At the same time, Ms Anbu urges the public to recognise that biodiversity \u201ccomes as a package deal\u201d. \u201cBiodiversity encompasses the animals we like and the animals we don\u2019t. So I urge the public to embrace nature as it is, and learn to coexist with it,\u201d she says. \u201cOtherwise, what\u2019s the point of calling ourselves a City in Nature?\u201d\u00a0Evolving practices\u00a0When articles are written about wild animals, ACRES usually appeals to the media to be mindful of the language used to describe their behaviours. For example, instead of saying, \u201cthe wild boar jumped out of the bush to attack the woman\u201d, a fairer account would be \u201cthe wild boar, already spooked by something else, charged at the woman\u201d, Ms Anbu says.\u00a0In 2020, the Bill to amend the Wild Animals and Birds Act was introduced in Parliament by Member of Parliament Louis Ng, giving rise to stiffer penalties for the feeding, releasing, or trapping and killing of wildlife.\u00a0While this was a significant stride, Ms Anbu feels certain loopholes have yet to be addressed. \u201cThe current Wildlife Act states that one can destroy an animal which enters his property and is proven to cause damage to it. This allows people to trap wildlife that enters their premises \u2014 but this is not a solution. It\u2019s just a quick fix,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u201cI think the law should mandate removal to be a last resort measure. This means that as a household owner, you would need to have taken all possible efforts to minimise entry of the animal through exclusion measures, before trapping it for removal,\u201d she adds.\u00a0Moving forward, any company wanting to handle wildlife \u2014 including pest control units \u2014 will have to go through mandatory certification training by NParks to attain their permits, but Ms Anbu still cautions against using pest control to handle human-wildlife conflicts.\u201cI would very openly say that the moment people call up pest control, it becomes very difficult to advocate for the idea of coexistence with nature, regardless of whether or not they are trained. When our wildlife is treated as pests, it completely goes against the ideals of a City in Nature,\u201d she explains.\u201cPart of the process of how nature works is chaos; that is the entire basis of evolution. We can\u2019t expect to control all of the chaos,\u201d adds Mr Shiva. \u201cWe can educate ourselves on how to coexist with wildlife, and we shouldn\u2019t try to overly police nature.\u201d\u00a0Join the conversations on TheHomeGround Asia’s Facebook and Instagram, and get the latest updates via Telegram.\u00a0"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Destinations","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Singapore","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/\/singapore\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Image crisis: Why some wild animals simply can’t catch a break","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/why-some-wild-animals-simply-cant-catch-a-break\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]