A wild boar attack that left a Punggol resident and a National Parks Board (NParks) officer injured has been caught, said Punggol West SMC Member of Parliament Sun Xueling on Friday (26 Feb).
In a Facebook post today, Ms Sun said that the wild boar was sighted by several residents and motorists in the Punggol Seas and Ecopolitan area, as seen in “many pictures and concerned messages” she received in the afternoon.
A cordon was subsequently set up along the waterway. The police, NParks and NParks contractors were activated, she said.
The injured female resident has been sent to the hospital, Ms Sun noted.
“I am worried about them and will be checking on them. Let us all keep them and the earlier victims in our prayers, that they will recover soon,” said Ms Sun.
Previously in a separate case, Ms Sun said that 20 men were activated on Sunday (21 Feb) to search for a wild boar that had attacked two people in Punggol the night before.
However, she did not elaborate on who the 20 men are or which organisation they are from.
Ms Sun, who is also vice-chairman of the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council, said that she was in contact with the NParks and the Singapore Police Force (SPF) regarding the attacks, and has been kept updated about the matter by the said authorities throughout Saturday.
“In the meantime, NParks has also put up several signs along the waterway today to advise residents on what to do should they encounter a wild boar,” she said.
Ms Sun, who is also Minister of State in the Ministry for Education and Ministry for Social and Family Development, expressed her hope that the two individuals will “recover soon and that they will also recover from the trauma of the incident”.
Minister of State for National Development Tan Kiat How in a separate Facebook post today said that today’s incident took place near where the two incidents took place last Saturday.
He noted that the wild boar “had to be humanely euthanised because of its aggressive behaviour”.
The lady and the NParks officer, said Mr Tan, suffered minor cuts and are being attended to.
He thanked the NParks team and their contractors who have been patrolling the area round the clock to search for the wild boar since Saturday.
“To locate the wild boar, NParks had deployed CCTVs, camera traps and traps around the estate. Housing & Development Board and Singapore Land Authority had also erected hoarding around the remaining forest patches to minimise the chances of wild boars roaming into the community,” said Mr Tan.
Noting that he visited the teams on the ground a couple of nights ago, he said that the team is continuing its surveillance of the area to ensure public safety.
“NParks colleagues shared with me that the feeding of wildlife whether intentionally or through irresponsible discarding of food is a key reason for such wildlife-human incidents. Such feeding habituates wildlife to humans and increases the propensity for aggressive behaviour,” Mr Tan stressed.
As such, NParks will not hesitate to take enforcement action against errant individuals.
“Since the Wildlife Act came into force in June 2020, NParks has prosecuted about 20 wild boar feeders who were caught doing so at Lorong Halus,” Mr Tan said.
Wild boar attacks have become common occurrences on the island lately.
In November last year, a wild boar attacked a 50-year-old woman at Sungei Api Api Park. The woman suffered lacerations on her left leg and face.
Separately in the same month, a video started circulating online showing a wild boar along a forest trail path raiding a GrabFood bag attached to a bicycle.
A number of people can be seen gathering around the scene, witnessing the whole incident in awe.
