Kovan Resident Discovers Dead Koi In Her Pond, Suspects Otters In The Area

Kovan Resident Discovers Dead Koi In Pond After Suspected Otter Attack

Although otters are considered endangered in Singapore, there have been increased sightings of the animals over the years.

Most notably, they are now notorious for breaking into residents’ homes and feasting on their pet fish.

This was what may have happened to a resident in Kovan, who awoke to discover her beloved koi dead in a bloody pond.

Kovan resident finds dead koi in bloody pond

On Tuesday (6 Dec), the resident, Mrs Tai, recounted the incident to 8world News.

At around 7am that morning, her domestic helper rushed over to the family frantically, saying that there was a problem with the koi pond.

When they went downstairs, they were greeted by the horrifying sight of a bloody pond and severed fish heads.

Source: 8world News

Afterwards, they removed about a dozen koi carcasses from the pond.

Most of the bodies were half-eaten, and all that remained of some were their heads.

Source: 8world News

Even the surviving koi had their tails bitten off, said Mrs Tai.

She shared that her family has been rearing the koi for over 30 years, watching them grow from the size of a palm to almost 1m long. The heaviest one, she added, weighed around 7kg.

Furthermore, the koi were all imported from Japan and were worth “hundreds of thousands” of dollars.

Resident suspects otter attack

Unfortunately, the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera was damaged, so she does not have footage of the incident.

However, after seeing the massacre of their koi, Mrs Tai and her husband suspect that the culprits are otters.

That morning, she also discovered that the potted plants against the wall had been knocked over.

There were signs that the stones on the artificial waterfall by the koi pond had been disturbed as well.

Hence, they suspect that the otters may have climbed the water pipe or plant along the wall and broke into the home.

First report of otters killing pet fish in Kovan

Mrs Tai told 8world News that it was her first time encountering such an incident in her 30 years of living in Kovan.

As there were no reports of otter sightings in the area, she felt confused and unsure of how to deal with the situation.

Thus, she hopes that authorities will investigate the incident and control the wild otters.

When she contacted NParks, she was told that it was the first report of otters in Kovan.

Subsequently, NParks notified other residents in the area and reminded them to use wire mesh to seal off gaps in their gates.

However, Mrs Tai remains worried as she believes that the otters have found a new food source. Thus, they may return to attack the remaining fish, she said.

Sadly, she stated that she no longer wants to raise koi after this incident.

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Featured image adapted from 8world News.