Monkey hit by car on busy Singapore road sparks safety concerns
A monkey was recently hit by a car while crossing a busy road in Singapore, raising questions about whether more can be done to keep the island’s wildlife safe.
Monkey hit by car on busy road
A video of the incident was shared on the Complaint Singapore Facebook group on 1 Sept, with the caption: “Monkey is not so lucky…”.
Source: Complaint Singapore on Facebook
The footage showed a troop of monkeys trying to cross a busy road as vehicles travelled along it.
At one point, the group could be seen retreating to the safety of the centre divider.
Source: Complaint Singapore on Facebook
A lone monkey then continued making its way across the road, but was hit by an oncoming vehicle.
Thankfully, it seemed to recover in time and continued crossing the road.
Source: Complaint Singapore on Facebook
The Original Poster (OP), who felt stressed witnessing such a scene, asked: “Any safer ways for monkeys to cross the road?”.
They also questioned whether “Singaporeans know how to live with wildlife” within this “city in nature”.
Mixed reactions, some fear outcome of avoiding monkeys
The post has since attracted the attention of drivers online, with some saying that avoiding a monkey at high speed could result in even more serious consequences.
A netizen imagined that the situation could be worse if a driver ended up “causing death or serious injury” to a person.
Source: Facebook
However, one commenter felt that the cars could have slowed down and allowed the monkeys to cross the road safely.
Source: Facebook
Meanwhile, another netizen suggested an alternative route for the monkeys by tying a rope from one tree to the one across the road.
This is so that the animals “can cross from above”.
Source: Facebook
Singapore has measures to help wildlife cross roads
There are already wildlife crossings in Singapore designed to reduce the risks animals face when moving between green spaces.
An example is the Eco-Link@BKE, an ecological bridge spanning the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE).
Source: NParks
The bridge allows wildlife to move between the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Central Catchment Nature Reserve without having to cross the expressway.
According to NParks, macaques, pangolins, lesser mouse-deer and common palm civets have been seen using the bridge.
MS News has also reached out to NParks for comment.
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Featured image adapted from Complaint Singapore on Facebook.
