ACRES: Please deal with food waste properly so that wild pigs needn’t be put down

Singapore — Wild boars are getting too used to getting quick and easy meals from uncovered waste bins and unattended waste bags in urban areas. And it’s all our fault.

When the boars take to hanging around these “fast food” sources that people have unwittingly created, it freaks out the neighbourhood.

Then people complain about being harassed or attacked by these wild animals and want them removed. Too often, the animals have had to be put down.

So, please take more care with your food waste,  pleaded ACRES, which rescues, treat and rehabilitates hundreds of wild animals each year.

In a Facebook post on Monday night (Feb 14), it illustrated how readily some wild  boars have got used to treating bins as food sources. One animal was seen chowing down at Petir Road in the Bukit Panjang area, while two wild pigs in Choa Chu Kang were eating from rubbish bins and even being fed by people.

ACRES posted a video compilation of the boars at Petir Road eating from one black garbage bag, then taking another from an uncovered rubbish bin, sleeping on top of garbage beside a bin, and rummaging through boxes of garbage in a covered area against the backdrop of traffic.

Unfortunately, the two animals at Choa Chu Kang had to be euthanised because of complaints from residents and the town council over safety concerns.

ACRES, which stands for Animal Concerns Research and Education Society, advocates for an end to animal cruelty especially for wildllife.

In its Facebook post, it said  that the key to protecting wild pigs is the proper management of food waste. It was alerted  a pig at Petir Road that has grown accustomed to dining off food waste in containers that are not wildlife-proof.

ACRES warns that “Interactions with a conditioned wild pig by the unaware public can result in potential conflict situations.” Not wishing to see the wild pig in Petir Road be euthanised as happened at Choa Chu Kang is appealing for people to help.

“Can we prevent this from happening at Bukit Panjang too? Can you please share with your friends who live in this area to follow Wildlife Etiquette?”

In a comment to the post, the group explained that wild pigs do have enough to eat in the wild, but are attracted to easy food access from waste bins.

“Due to habitat fragmentation and development, they are sighted a lot more than before,” ACRES added.

Its handy advisory on Wild Pigs can be accessed here and its infographics here (in English) and here (in Mandarin).

It said that it has reached out to the Holland Bukit Panjang Town Council to ask that it implement  better management practices.

/TISG

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