As Singapore develops, an unintended side effect may be increased encounters with nature.

The video of a bat eating bananas at a supermarket was not unprecedented (FairPrice apologises over bat eating at store, Oct 17). In August, a video posted on social media showed a monkey stealing bread from a supermarket.

Whenever such stories go viral, views are inevitably mixed on social media. Some may advocate that shop owners employ more drastic measures, such as culling such "pests", to prevent similar incidents from happening again. Others adopt a more tolerant and accepting stance, which I align more with.

If there is an effective ethical deterrent that does not cause harm to the animals, it should be favoured instead.

One solution that covers a wide range of animals is ultrasound deterrents. A recent study explained that humans are a species that cannot hear ultrasound. As a result, such repellents can effectively disturb other animals while not harming us. An ultrasound generator can be made cheaply by using readily available computer parts.

It is ultimately better to retain some wildlife than to live in a sterile concrete jungle. Rather than see such animals as pests, our interactions with nature should remind us of the value of conserving what is left of our biodiversity.

For instance, without the bats that pollinate our many plants, we might lose many of our beloved fruits, such as mangoes and durians.

It is vital that we cultivate tolerance towards nature while also engaging in an ethical science-based approach in minimising the impact of such encounters.

Timothy Yee Bing Lun