19 persons are facing charges for feeding wild boars in Lorong Halus at Pasir Ris. This is the largest number being taken to court under the Wildlife Act. The feeding and release of wildlife are illegal.
The Lorong Halus site is a wild boar feeding hot spot. NParks’ action comes as a woman was attacked by a wild boar, leaving her with injuries.
The nature community says this is a timely move, with Singapore’s “City in Nature” efforts bringing humans into closer proximity with wildlife.
People often feed wildlife out of kindness, but experts warn this does the animals more harm than good.
When the animals associate humans with food handouts and seek them, people may call for the authorities to cull them, especially since feeding could lead to their population numbers surging.
CONSERVATIONIST IVAN KWAN, ON FEEDING WILDLIFE
When animals turn away from foraging for fruits and seeds to getting fed, it can hurt the ecosystem. Plants no longer get wildlife help to spread their seeds.
Feeding often results in closer and more interactions between wildlife and humans, and thus a higher chance of transmission of zoonotic diseases like bird flu and rabies.
Feeding domesticated species such as stray cats and dogs is legal as it is not covered by the Wildlife Act. But NParks says it works closely with the animal welfare groups to ensure feeding community animals is done responsibly.
PRODUCED BY: DENISE CHONG