Otters of Singapore: What Can We Learn from Urban Wildlife? | Philip Johns | TEDxYale NUS College
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- Опубліковано 24 вер 2024
- Smooth-coated otters returned to Singapore when the city cleaned its waterways after decades of industrial pollution. Now these gregarious, curious animals romp through Singapore by the dozen, and loose-knit groups of otter-watchers follow some otter families daily. The presenter will share discoveries of how otters forage, how they teach and defend their young, and how families sometimes fight. The return of Singapore’s otters also raises questions about what it takes for wildlife and people to live together in close proximity, and the presenter will explore whether cities can be refugia.
Philip Johns is an evolutionary biologist and an entomologist by training. He moved to SE Asia to study the insects there -- and to help start a liberal arts college -- and he fell in love with the urban wildlife in Singapore. He and his students have studied everything from urban hornbills to flying lizards to colugos. He has a special fondness for urban otters, and he and his students have studied their behaviours in depth. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx
Many people miss our wonderful Samba deer
Urban wildlife, from hornbills to macaques, spiders to honeybees, horseshoe crabs to crocs, have fascinated many local folks for years, though I find the conflicts between Man and Nature here a lot more intriguing and interesting to look at (the recent cases of the Sunda Pygmy owl nest at Telok Blangah and trapping of otters at People's Park are good examples)
Super intelligent animals. Very friendly, they have diverse personalities. They are amazing. Love them!!!!
Singapore - A Garden Paradise.
Only in Ridout, everywhere else the litter is not being cleared properly.
Lots of foreigners call Singapore boring and yet they have never visited places like Sungei Buloh or Pulau Ubin
They prefer comfortable places like Marina Bay Sands, not exposing themselves to the heat and humidity.
Most Singaporean residents welcome the growth of wildlife and the growing eco system of regional fauna which includes migratory birds and animals. However, so far we are fortunate that these wildlife have not resulted in serious harm to children, although several adults had been attacked by wild boars that has grown in numbers (again because there are no predators). Then there are the local macaques that are seemingly growing out of control in many parts of Singapore becoming a nuisance and hazard to ordinary folk walking or living near the forests. This is inevitable when the wildlife is flourishing.
Something has got to give. People have to accept these incidents as part and parcel of living so close to wildlife. Most folks who live on landed properties with ponds of koi are the ones who are rallying to curb the growth of otter numbers or even find ways to restrict them to the green areas of the island. It is unfortunate but wild otters will hunt and kill pet Koi in private properties. Is this how humans and otters live together in harmony? Or is the end of freely roaming otters coming to an end?
Otterly fascinating..
Not forgetting the NParks have released chicken broods to roam around all over in housing estates and parks.
Not true
Singapore is magic 😍
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I've seen a short clip of two groups of otters having gang fight in the water at Kallang River.
Definitely much better than US
Singapore ❤❤❤
@7:20 Yes !. I have witnessed an attack on a monitor lizard by 3 otters in the water of Sengkang Riverside park few years ago.
Of course the lizard swam and scrambled on away into the bushes 😂
Amazing sight 👍
Yup, besides otters there are wild boars and wild chickens roaming around in Sg. Without effective local wildlife protection laws, they would most likely ended up on the dinner plates like in the old days.
You try to catch them first? 😂
There is a very strict law against hunting wildlife in Singapore. The rule is do not touch, pluck or remove any plants and animals from its habitats. Not even the seed can be collected.
@@tand9854just recently a chicken was caught, slaughter and eaten in public.
Singaporean teenage boys would scream at the sight of a tiny insect, let alone being equipped with the skills to catch any wild animal.
Those wild chickens can fly up trees. I seen it before.
Interestingly, why did local Singaporeans never get to talk about their own coexistence with nature as such on the Tedx. While remarkably a foreign academic new to this densely populated island city is presenting his own experiential observations and highlighting such coexistence is indeed magical and Singapore is magic.
Because this is a everyday way of life for us Singaporeans, it's not that we don't appreciate it, we just don't find the need to prattle on and on about it.
For a foreigner, of course there's more interest in something new to them.
The presenter didn't actually present anything new to the table. It was almost like reading a random travel blog post, but if Tedx is meant to cater for any kind of topics that's fine, just not my expectation from a Ted talk really.
3:51 Erm those were seals actually , look at their flippers
The two on the right are definitely otters with their elongated body shape and long tails, and their front paws facing forwards. For the one on the left middle the build is more sealion-like with the flippers facing more angular outwards and the seeming absence of a tail.
No wonder anglers had a hard time with little or no fish to catch and release. Those released may never be seen again.
Fish are also part of nature and eco-system. Why catch them unless it is for food ? Catching and releasing them after, for entertainment (hobby) ? Same for birds in cages.
@@andrinaleong4079 That's how anglers help to maintain eco-balance through C&R regardless of species or size. Otters do not, small or big, any species all are food to them. Birds are typically bought from shops and kept as pets. That's pet keeping hobby.
@@ongkimchoon7383Pardon my ignorance. From what an angler told me, he caught and released his catch. I don’t know how that can maintain eco-balance unless the fish died.
@@andrinaleong4079 Most likely that was the case.
What about the Rats of Singapore?
The Rats belong to UK!
The Rats belong to the British Army!😂
Most are in corporate management 😢
The ones in Parliament are the most ravenous.
There has to be a balance in nature and unless their are predators keeping otters under control , they will spread and create problems , this is what many of the people , and government in Singapore fail to understand
Only for some entitled taitais with useless imported koi...
The otters can be a pest if left unmanaged. They will go into houses and kill the fishes in the ponds too.
Clean my foot. A growing pile of rubbish and litter full of curry packets and empty beer cans have been lying around near a bench by a walkway for weeks without being cleared even though the PAP TC workers passes by next to that mess everyday on the waste cart trolley.
pick it up then
@@tsoiyuz can tell you are the type to clean up others backside. Enjoy your lowlife.
Otters and their on going killing sprees mutilating fishes in public gardens and the ponds in private homes. It’s an invasive species.
good