UPDATE (28 Sep): NParks commented that they were alerted at about 6.50pm on 25 Sep about the Malayan Water Monitor.
After its capture, they released the lizard in a forested site away from residential areas.
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A TikTok video brought back childhood memories of playing ‘catching’ with friends around the HDB corridors. Out-of-breath laughing and annoyed neighbours were the norm.
Except in this video, the target being chased is a monitor lizard that somehow ended up outside its habitat.
Cornering it at the stairs, NParks staff showed up to capture it, only for the crafty reptile to give them the slip and race off into another block.
Eventually, the OP assisted the poor NParks personnel in catching it, with him giggling uncontrollably the entire time.
Monitor lizards are not uncommon sights in Singapore. However, in a TikTok video, the OP Sukor spotted one in the second-storey corridor of an HDB block in Taman Jurong on 25 Sep.
Sukor told MS News that a neighbour spotted the lizard at 11am. Yet when NParks arrived, the lizard was nowhere to be found.
Then, at past 4pm, he caught sight of the lizard “casually walking across the corridor”, much to his shock.
Nonetheless, Sukor starts a spontaneous game of catching with himself as ‘it’. Making a joking roar and giggling like a maniac, he begins to chase it.
The frightened monitor lizard books it, easily outpacing him with its four legs practically flailing in its run.
To turn a corner, the lightning-fast lizard hits the sickest drift ever done on four legs and makes for the staircase.
Source: @svkorr on TikTok
At the staircase landing, the shaken reptile attempts to find a way out, yet finds only concrete in its path. It then runs headfirst into a wall with an audible ‘bonk’.
Source: @svkorr on TikTok
The footage cuts to an undisclosed amount of time later. The catching participants appear to have called a time-out to catch their breath, with the lizard cornered on the landing.
Upstairs, the OP continues his giggling fit while on the floor below, an unseen neighbour brandishing a broom like a spear joins in the contagious laughing.
Source: @svkorr on TikTok
He explained to MS News that two cats frequented that corridor, and he became concerned about their safety.
As such, he chased the monitor lizard away but ended up uncontrollably laughing due to the speed of the lizard’s run.
After three hours, NParks staff clad in green finally showed up at the HDB to catch the intruding monitor lizard. Using a tool, they attempt to push it into a cage.
The reptile, however, proved more slippery than a bar of soap coated in grease. It somehow squeezed itself and its flailing tail through the tiny gap between the cage and the wall and legged it down the steps.
Source: @svkorr on TikTok
Like something out of a Looney Tunes episode, Sukor spots the two NParks officers chasing the lizard across the nearby road.
The rapid reptile then pulls off a basketball ankle-breaker on its two pursuers, switching directions past a recycling bin and off into another HDB’s void deck.
The OP can’t help but break into another giggling fit as he watches the poor NParks personnel give chase.
Source: @svkorr on TikTok
The lizard ends up taking refuge in a dense fort of parked bicycles. Realising they forgot the cage back at the previous stairwell, the OP fetches it and runs back like it’s a game-winning rugby ball.
Source: @svkorr on TikTok
At long last, the hardworking NParks officers make it through the bastion of bicycles and safely subdue the evasive eloper.
Source: @svkorr on TikTok
As the duo tuck the lizard into its cage, it becomes clear the OP isn’t the only one who found the situation funny. One of the NParks staff lets out a chuckle at the whole affair.
Source: @svkorr on TikTok
The hilarious TikTok video got much attention online. Many found it amusing how quickly an out-of-place animal video turned into a Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner sketch.
Sukor also said he found the situation funny as it looked like they were playing catching with the lizard.
Regardless, the tireless efforts of the two NParks staff deserve much praise. Similarly, the OP actually did lend them a hand in the effort.
However, NParks recommends not to chase or corner a monitor lizard, as they may retaliate in defence.
Instead, they recommend observing from a distance, calling the Animal Response Centre at 1800-476-1600, and waiting for their arrival.
MS News has reached out to NParks for comments.
In another case of a lizard wandering where it shouldn’t, a monitor lizard showed up on Singapore’s F1 track during a practice session.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from @svkorr on TikTok.
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