On May 9, an unfortunate incident happened to six-week-old otter pup Toby — it fell off a ledge into a canal by Fort Road and would’ve drowned were it not for retiree and property investor Patrick Ng, 60, who jumped into the waters to rescue it. He then left the animal near the entrance to its holt in case the adult otters came back to reclaim their baby.
But when the otter watching community discovered Toby’s family had found a new home nearby and didn’t return for the pup, it was taken to Wildlife Reserves Singapore for treatment. Toby was bottle-fed, given a Vitamin B injection and dewormed, gradually showing signs of recovery.
Yesterday morning, vets deemed the otter pup strong enough to go back to the wild. Thanks to the help of volunteers from OtterWatch, scientists from the National University of Singapore, staff from the National Parks Board and vets from WRS, Toby was finally reunited with its family, known to public as the Marina 9 pack.
According to NParks and WRS, Toby will be monitored to make sure it can successfully assimilate into its family.
