The authorities have ended their search for a bull that escaped on Tuesday from a dairy farm in Lim Chu Kang, but the farm is still required to continue looking as the mystery deepens over the disappearance.

In a statement yesterday, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said it had mounted an intensive search with the National Parks Board for the bull on the Viknesh Dairy Farm, neighbouring farms and nearby forested areas.

"In addition, we reminded the management and workers of farms in the area to report to us if the bull is sighted. So far, none of the farms have reported sightings of the bull," the SFA added.

The farm's owner told The Straits Times that the episode has caused him a lot of stress but he believes the two-year-old bull, named after elephant-headed Hindu deity Ganesha, will return to the farm eventually. The black-and-white animal was reported to have escaped from its pen on Tuesday.

The owner, who wants to be known only as Mr Manikandan, said his staff searched the farm - about the size of four football fields - to no avail.

"Ganesha did not jump the fence and run out. He will return because he belongs to us," Mr Manikandan, 78, told The Straits Times.

The 36 cattle he has are either bred for milk or used in religious ceremonies, such as temple openings.

The SFA had first reported the animal's escape in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

It has advised the public not to approach or provoke the bull, and to report sightings of Ganesha to the Animal Response Centre on 1800-476-1600.

It said in an update on Wednesday that the bull could have escaped through a break in the fencing that surrounds the property, but Mr Manikandan said at the time that the bull was still on his farm.

Environmental consultant Tony O'Dempsey said previously that the bull posed little danger to the public as bulls are generally gentle animals.

Reports of escaped animals are uncommon in Singapore, with only five reported cases since 2004, including Ganesha.

Lim Min Zhang