A Bukit Timah resident has been left devastated after a family of otters invaded his home and killed over 40 fish in his koi pond, leaving only one koi whose fins were bitten off.
Yuen Ying Tham, a 36-year-old project director, told the Chinese daily that he has raised koi, algae-eating fish and scavenger fish in two ponds since he moved into his house in Bukit Timah 20 years ago.
On Sunday morning, he was appalled to find that the pond and its surroundings were full of fish that were bitten to death.
Tham said, “Otters broke into our house and killed my beloved koi. Only otters can do such damage. Most of the small fish are outside the pond with their heads missing. Half of the larger fish are eaten. There are mutilated carcasses of koi, partially eaten, and there are a few koi that I have been raising for over 15 years. Algae-eating fish carcasses without fish heads are also left by the pond.”
After inspection, Tham found that there were only three surviving fish in the two ponds; a koi, algae-eating fish and scavenger fish, but they were all seriously injured:
“But they all have no fins and can only lie on their side. I moved them to a safe place, but by Monday morning, the algae and scavenger died of serious injuries, and only one was left without fins. The koi. The fins can grow again and I hope it survives.”
Tham never expected that the otters would be able to break into the pond since his house is on high terrain and deep in a hill.
Revealing that he has been raising the fish since he was a kid, he told the daily:
“I’ve been raising fish for almost 30 years, but it was destroyed overnight. This is the first time I’ve had this happen, and I’m totally destroyed and in shock. I feel that Singapore is no longer safe and suitable for fish lovers like us. So I was hit so hard that I don’t dare to keep fish anymore.”
Tham added, “It seems to me that the otter population is getting out of control and I would like to call on the government to stop encouraging them to breed.
I also hope that people will take precautions. We are so complacent that when something like this happened before to others, we thought it would not happen to us. But we were wrong. Some people say it’s possible to put up railings to keep otters out, but it’s not that simple.”
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