Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Monitor lizard messes up preschool garden after wandering into HDB estate near Singapore's last kampung



A massive monitor lizard lurking at a staircase landing of the Buangkok Edgeview HDB estate encountered on Tuesday (Oct 13) afternoon.
PHOTO: A massive monitor lizard lurking at a staircase landing of the Buangkok Edgeview HDB estate encountered on Tuesday (Oct 13) afternoon.
Photo from WhatsApp, Facebook/Abdullah Muhammad
Picture posted by Ilyas Sholihyn, ilyas@asiaone.com, AsiaOne, 14 October 2020
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https://www.asiaone.com/digital/monitor-lizard-messes-preschool-garden-after-wandering-hdb-estate-near-singapores-last


While you wouldn't bat an eyelid over common house geckos on the walls of car parks, even the most hardened of us would get a shock should we stumble upon a massive monitor lizard lurking at a staircase landing.

Which was exactly what one resident of the Buangkok Edgeview HDB estate encountered on Tuesday (Oct 13) afternoon.

Abdullah Muhammad alerted his neighbours in the estate’s Facebook group page to the unexpected sight at 997 Buangkok Crescent, a multi-storey car park.

As it is a newly-established Build-To-Order estate located next to Kampong Lorong Buangkok, the resident believed that the colossal reptile had escaped from its habitat near Singapore’s only surviving traditional village. Though it was also likely that it might have just gotten lost after wandering off from the North Eastern Riverine Loop canal nearby.


Abdullah Muhammad alerted his neighbours in the estate’s Facebook group page to the unexpected sight at 997 Buangkok Crescent, a multi-storey car park.
PHOTO: Abdullah Muhammad alerted his neighbours in the estate’s Facebook group page to the unexpected sight at 997 Buangkok Crescent, a multi-storey car park.
PHOTO: Screengrab/Facebook
Picture posted by Ilyas Sholihyn, ilyas@asiaone.com, AsiaOne, 14 October 2020
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https://www.asiaone.com/digital/monitor-lizard-messes-preschool-garden-after-wandering-hdb-estate-near-singapores-last


Prior to making its way to the car park, the monitor lizard was seen rambling in front of My First Skool at Buangkok Edgeview, making a mess of the preschool’s garden in the process.


Prior to making its way to the car park, the monitor lizard was seen rambling in front of My First Skool at Buangkok Edgeview, making a mess of the preschool’s garden in the process.
PHOTO: Prior to making its way to the car park, the monitor lizard was seen rambling in front of My First Skool at Buangkok Edgeview, making a mess of the preschool’s garden in the process.
PHOTO: WhatsApp
Picture posted by Ilyas Sholihyn, ilyas@asiaone.com, AsiaOne, 14 October 2020
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https://www.asiaone.com/digital/monitor-lizard-messes-preschool-garden-after-wandering-hdb-estate-near-singapores-last


In a subsequent update to his post, Abdullah uploaded a video of a rescue operation conducted by wildlife rescue group Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES), which saw volunteers and police officers easing the frightened reptile into a cage before carting it away.



Posted by Abdullah Muhammad on 13 October 2020 at 4:09 pm - Safely rescued by Acres
https://www.facebook.com/585363943/videos/10158978165513944/


AsiaOne understands that the National Parks Board (NParks) had been alerted to the case and referred it to ACRES to conduct the extraction. According to How Choon Beng, NParks’ Director of Wildlife Management and Outreach, the monitor lizard has since been relocated to a forested area. He added that monitor lizards play an important role in Singapore’s ecology by controlling the population of prey such as insects, crabs, snakes and fish.


According to How Choon Beng, NParks’ Director of Wildlife Management and Outreach, the monitor lizard has since been relocated to a forested area.
PHOTO: According to How Choon Beng, NParks’ Director of Wildlife Management and Outreach, the monitor lizard has since been relocated to a forested area. He added that monitor lizards play an important role in Singapore’s ecology by controlling the population of prey such as insects, crabs, snakes and fish.
Picture posted by Inside Filipino Eden
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https://www.insidefilipinoeden.com/region7-wildlife


“The animal in the photos and videos is a water monitor lizard. They are commonly found in Singapore, especially close to green spaces and water bodies like canals,” Kalai Vanan, Deputy Chief Executive of ACRES, told AsiaOne.

NParks advises members of the public not to touch, chase, corner or capture the critters when encountering them in the wild as they may attack in defence.


NParks advises members of the public not to touch, chase, corner or capture the critters when encountering them in the wild as they may attack in defence.
PHOTO: NParks advises members of the public not to touch, chase, corner or capture the critters when encountering them in the wild as they may attack in defence.
Picture posted by Time, Bangkok Post - A monitor lizard is pictured at Lumpini Park in Bangkok on 20 September  2016
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https://time.com/4502364/lumpini-park-monitor-lizards/


“If you encounter a monitor lizard, do leave it alone and observe from a distance,” How told AsiaOne, advising people to call NParks Animal Response Centre at 1800-476-1600 for assistance instead.

“These animals are shy and will not attack humans unless provoked or cornered.”


These animals are shy and will not attack humans unless provoked or cornered.
PHOTO: “These animals are shy and will not attack humans unless provoked or cornered.” Note Komodo dragon may not be that shy.
Dale A. Drinnon has been a researcher in the field of Cryptozoology for the past 30+ years and has corresponded with Bernard Heuvelmans and Ivan T. Sanderson. He has a degree in Anthropology from Indiana University and is a freelance artist and writer. Motto: "I would rather be right and entirely alone than wrong in the company with all the rest of the world"--Ambroise Pare
Picture saved by marina rocco to animali 2 - Frontiers of Zoology
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The monitor lizard family includes the biggest of all lizards, the Komodo dragon.
PHOTO: The monitor lizard family includes the biggest of all lizards, the Komodo dragon. Monitor lizards live in tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Australasia. Most monitors have long bodies, powerful legs, strong claws, and muscular tails. They hunt during the daytime, and their prey ranges from insects to large mammals, depending upon the lizard's size. Most monitors live on the ground, but they can climb well and some species spend much of their time in trees feeding on fruit. Female monitor lizards lay up to 30 eggs, which they bury underground or inside hollow tree trunks to keep them safe.
A Komodo dragon's saliva contains so many bacteris that a bite wound can quickly turn septic. Prey can die from blood poisoning within 24 hours. [2]
Septic shock is when you experience a significant drop in blood pressure that can lead to respiratory or heart failure, stroke, failure of other organs, and death.
Singapore's monitor lizard along the North Eastern Riverine Loop canal including the one passing by Kampong Lorong Buangkok can roam about along the Park Connector Network (PCN) even in the pre-dawn hours.
PHOTO: Singapore's monitor lizard along the North Eastern Riverine Loop canal including the one passing by Kampong Lorong Buangkok can roam about along the Park Connector Network (PCN) even in the pre-dawn hours. Their old home has been destroyed and taken over by our HDB and other condominium developers beside the PCN. Monitor lizards too can copulate vigorously, ramping into small plants, like the yam plants, which are plenty along part of the PCN, 200 meters from the Kampong.

People who consume reptile meat, - like crocodiles, turtles, lizards or snakes - are more susceptible to a range of diseases and health problems (trichinosis, pentastomiasis, gnathostomosis, sparganosis, etc.), due to the presence of pathogenic bacteria, especially Salmonella, Shigella, Yersinia, Campylobacter, Clostridium and Staphylococcus.

There is wisdom in the Holy Scriptures which vastly surpasses the knowledge that was available to human beings at the time! [3]
Picture saved by FRANCISCO to outros
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By Ilyas Sholihyn, ilyas@asiaone.com, AsiaOne, 14 October 2020
Reference
[1] Ilyas Sholihyn, ilyas@asiaone.com, AsiaOne, Monitor lizard messes up preschool garden after wandering into HDB estate near Singapore's last kampung, posted on 14 October 2020, https://www.asiaone.com/digital/monitor-lizard-messes-preschool-garden-after-wandering-hdb-estate-near-singapores-last

[2] findout!, Dorling Kindersley, Monitor lizards, https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/animals-and-nature/reptiles/monitor-lizards/

[3] Zoe Antonio Cruz, Evangelical Focus, Eating reptil, https://evangelicalfocus.com/zoe/2165/eating-reptiles
 

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