Presumably frustrated at a family of otters for scaring away potential catches, an angler tossed a couple of stones at the creatures swimming near Punggol Waterfront. Unfortunately for him, otter sighting group OtterWatch was there at the scene and captured him in the despicable act.
It’s even sadder to know that the group of otters chased away by the man is of the Punggol Marina clan, a family consisting of two adults, one “subadult” and five pups that are said to be one of the weaker otter families in Singapore. Survival of the fittest and all.
“They live close to humans because they couldn’t fight the rest with their young pups,” noted OtterWatch, adding that the older otters were badly wounded from a territorial fight with another otter family about a month ago at Lorong Halus.
“Their pups are certainly lacking nutrition, they look smaller than they should, given their estimated age of 4-5 months.”
So yeah, the man was apparently attempting to injure (or at least frighten away) an already embattled clan struggling to survive. According to OtterWatch, the man’s picture and multiple videos of the incident last Saturday have already been sent to the authorities.
Strangely, the love for Singapore’s otters got folks real emotional — enough to call for a murderous manhunt upon him.
Some pointed out that the individual who took the video could have spoken up in the first place. True — but honestly, would a lone individual try to take on an angry fisherman and his group of friends?
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