Wild boar killed after getting hit by lorry outside Waterway Point

A wild boar was killed in a lorry accident outside Waterway Point shopping mall on Saturday (Jan 12) at about 11.55am.

Stomper Sean captured a video of the dead pig with his in-car camera at about 12.24pm, while he was passing by the area on the way to Punggol MRT station to drop his wife off.

He told Stomp: "While I was driving, I noticed police cars and the dead wild boar.

"I did not see any other vehicles that may have been involved in the accident."

In the video, the deceased pig can be seen lying on the ground in an area cordoned off by safety cones.

Police cars and a traffic police motorcycle were also at the scene.

Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) deputy chief executive Kalai Vanan said that the carcass was cleared by the National Environment Agency (NEA).

He said: "Basically, with habitat loss, animals get lost and stranded."

According to The Straits Times, the wild boar had ran out of a carpark onto the road. It then got hit by a lorry and subsequently died from its injuries.

The lorry driver did not sustain any injuries.

Wild boar sightings in Punggol have also become more common recently.

In August last year, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said it had received about 150 cases of wild boar-related feedback islandwide from January to July that year.

Of the 150 cases reported, 31 cases were from Punggol, which exceeded the 27 cases reported for the area in the whole of 2017.

Director of Strix Wildlife consultancy Mr Subaraj Rajathurai told ST last year that many pockets of nature had been removed for housing development, therefore causing wildlife to lose their habitats and wander around looking for food. 

He said: "We have encroached on their homes, where do you expect them to go?"

In a previous Stomp report, Stomper Daryl and his son spotted a wild boar near SAFRA Punggol on Oct 13, 2018.

Daryl shared the same sentiments as Mr Subaraj and said that the construction of a town hub at Punggol, at an area which was once forested, might be why wild boars are appearing more often.

If you encounter a wild boar, the National Parks Board (NParks) advises you to:

• Be calm and move slowly away from the animal. Do not approach or attempt to feed the animal.

• Keep a safe distance and do not corner or provoke the animal i.e. by using a flash while taking pictures of it.

• If you see adults with young piglets, leave them alone. These are potentially more dangerous because they may attempt to defend their young.