Protected turtle spotted crawling around Jurong East HDB, reptile allegedly taken by member of public

Protected turtle spotted in front of HDB block in Jurong East

An Amyda cartilaginea, also known as an Asian softshell turtle, was spotted crawling around a HDB block in Jurong East.

On 24 Aug, 41-year-old safety coordinator Altaf Yusoff shared footage of the rare sighting on the Singapore Wildlife Sightings Facebook page. 

One clip showed the reptile slowly making its way across the wet pavement while onlookers gasped in awe.

Speaking to MS News, Mr Yusoff shared that he spotted the turtle in front of block 246 Jurong East Street 24 at around 11.20am on 24 Aug.

He stated that he was “excited” to have seen the reptile as it was not common to spot such turtles in the area.

Mr Yusoff also noted that it was the only turtle observed in the area at the time.

26-year-old Luqmanul Hakim Bin Othman, co-founder the Turtle Working Group Singapore who has been tracking the species since 2020, told MS News that spotting the softshell turtle is not fairly common as the species is regarded as ‘vulnerable’ both internationally and domestically.

Turtle allegedly taken by member of public

Despite claims that the National Parks Board (NParks) came to remove the turtle, the The Straits Times (ST) reported that the reptile was taken away by a member of the public before the arrival of NParks.

NParks’s group director of wildlife management How Choon Beng told ST that the turtle was a native species protected under the Wildlife Act 1965.

He also affirmed that NParks is currently investigating the case, adding that it is an offence to keep or take any wildlife without the written approval of the director-general of wildlife management under the Wildlife Act.

In cases where the offence involves protected wildlife, an offender may be fined up to S$50,000, jailed for up to two years, or both, if convicted.

MS News has reached out to NParks for comment on the matter.

Also read: S’porean successfully breeds Malayan box turtle in captivity after 12 years

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Featured image adapted from Altaf Yusoff on Facebook.