Baby civet spotted crying in fear on ECP drain grate, gets rescued by passer-by
While walking his dogs at East Coast Park (ECP) on Monday (23 Feb), a man stumbled upon a baby civet stuck on a drain grate and crying out.
Unable to ignore its apparent distress, he stepped in and carried it to a grass patch, giving it food, water, and even his shirt as a makeshift blanket.
Source: Ian Lin on Facebook
After waiting for its parents to show up to no avail, he decided to call NParks for assistance.
Baby civet cries while stuck on grilles of drain grate
The man, who wished to be referred to as Ian, told MS News that the incident occurred at around 9.40pm.
He was walking his adopted dogs along their usual route in the Parkland Green area when he heard a faint crying sound from afar.
Curious, Ian walked over to investigate the source of the noise. It was then that he found a baby civet stuck alone on the grilles of a drain grate.
Source: Ian Lin on Facebook
“The baby civet was crying and looked like it’s in fear,” Ian told MS News.
He picked up the civet with his shirt to prevent scratches or bites, and carried it to a grass patch.
Source: Ian Lin on Facebook
Restaurant staff provide free bread and water for baby civet
When the civet kept whining and crying, Ian suspected that apart from being scared, it was also hungry and thirsty.
He then headed to a nearby restaurant called Kebab Station, which had already closed for the day.
However, after being informed of the situation, a staff member kindly gave him some bread and water for free.
Source: Ian Lin on Facebook
Returning to the grass patch, Ian placed the water and bread down for the civet, which took a few nibbles but remained wary of him.
“The civet did attempt to walk away, but I did not think it was safe to let it be alone,” Ian explained to MS News.
Source: Ian Lin on Facebook
“Don’t run away, please,” he told it repeatedly.
NParks rescues baby civet after parents fail to show up
While continuing to wait for the baby’s parents to return, Ian observed that it had seemed to calm down, snacking on the bread from under the shirt.
Source: Ian Lin on Facebook
“We got cosy after a while,” the video text read, showing the civet snugly wrapped up in the T-shirt like a blanket.
Source: Ian Lin on Facebook
Ian noted that he waited for around 30 minutes, but the baby’s parents never showed up.
“So, I decided to call [the] NParks hotline because I don’t think the baby civet will be able to survive on its own if left out here alone,” he said.
Around 20 minutes later, staff from NParks and ACRES arrived at the scene, placing the civet in a cardboard box.
Source: Ian Lin on Facebook
Ian bid his goodbyes to both the civet and his T-shirt, due to how comfortable it had gotten snuggled inside.
Rescuer says saving baby civet from drain grate was ‘common sense’
Ian told MS News that NParks had assured him they would nurse the civet and release it back into the wild once it was in better shape.
Source: Ian Lin on Facebook
MS News has reached out to NParks for comments and any updates on the baby civet.
Ian would later share about his rescue attempt on Facebook, where various netizens praised him for his kind actions.
Source: Facebook
However, he felt that he had only done his ‘civet’ duty in the situation.
He said that everyone should be empathetic enough to care for a living thing in distress, person or animal.
“I hope people don’t see my actions as an anomaly or something to be celebrated,” he said.
“But rather something that should be as common as common sense.”
Also read: 19-year-old S’porean launches animal rescue platform after years of saving wildlife
19-year-old S’porean launches animal rescue platform after years of saving wildlife
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Featured image adapted from Ian Lin on Facebook.
