Wild boar in Yishun incident euthanised as ‘last resort’, NParks says – TODAY

SINGAPORE Following a public outcry over its decision to euthanise a wild boar that caused a commotion in a Yishun housing estate, an official from the National Parks Board (NParks) said that euthanasia was a last resort response.

In an interview with TODAY on Friday (March 25), Dr Adrian Loo, group director of wildlife management with NParks, said: "We didn't want to translocate it because there is a risk that it might come out (to human-populated areas) again.

The wild boar may have dispersed out (to open urban areas) because it was seeking a new place, or it got chased out by another herd of boars, or it was disorientated, or it was habituated to human food."

If the boar was moved elsewhere, there may still be a risk of it returning to urban spaces such as roads, which may be a hazard to motorists, vehicular traffic and itself.

This process of euthanising is usually something of a last resort, Dr Loo added.

When asked why the boar may have ventured into a housing estate, he said that this could be attributed to improper management of waste or illegal feeding.

On March 9, the wild boar was on the loose at a Yishun coffee shop and knocked over a woman. The woman fell and remained on the ground for about 15 minutes before paramedics arrived, an eyewitness said.

It happened around Block 846 Yishun Ring Road at about 6.50pm.

The NParks team was first alerted to the incident at 7.11pm that day and arrived at the scene 12 minutes later.

Dr Loo said: "Policeofficers were on site and saw the wild boar dash from the coffee shop and into Yishun Park. We tried to trap itthe next daybut it was just very skittish and was hiding already".

"We set up our closed-circuit television camera and monitored that area. The same wild boar came out and went to a rubbish point and then went back to the forest."

The NParks team hoarded the boar in a confined area and continued to monitor it for almost two weeks.

The team shot a sedative dart at the boar, which made it unconscious before it was euthanised.

News of the euthanasia greatly upset animal welfare groups and activists.

Ms Anbarasi Boopal, co-chief executive officer of the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres), said that the boars death was "disheartening" because it goes against the organisation's efforts to educate the public on the peaceful coexistence between humans and wildlife.

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Wild boar in Yishun incident euthanised as 'last resort', NParks says - TODAY