Wild boar killed after being run over by a car on SLE

SINGAPORE - A wild boar was killed after being run over by a car on Seletar Expressway (SLE) before the Upper Thomson Road exit on Sunday.

In a 35-second video posted by SG Road Vigilante, a wild boar is seen dashing across the expressway. It appears to be hit by a car in the second rightmost lane before it is run over by another black car on the rightmost lane.

The impact causes what seemed to be the black car’s fender liner to come off.

In response to queries, a Land Transport Authority (LTA) spokesman said LTA was alerted to the incident at 1.13pm on SLE towards Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE).

To allow traffic flow to resume, LTA traffic marshals and Expressway Monitoring Advisory System vehicle recovery crew were dispatched to move the carcass to the side of the expressway, he added.

The National Environment Agency’s service provider has cleared the carcass for proper disposal, the spokesman added.

National Parks Board (NParks) did not receive any alert about the incident.

According to the NParks’ advisory on its website, wild boars are strong animals that can run relatively fast.

“Due to their solid body build, wild boars are considered to be particularly dangerous when involved in car accidents,” said NParks, adding that the wild boar population here has increased rapidly with a lack of natural predators.

The advisory said that the increase in the population of wild boars may result in a higher frequency of human-wild boar conflict as they wander into parks, public roads and residential areas.

“Although they appear shy, they are still wild animals and are unpredictable in behaviour, which could pose a risk to public safety,” said NParks.

Motorists are advised to drive within speed limits and be alert to animals crossing when driving along roads flanked by forested areas, especially where there are signs to indicate animal crossings.

Mr Kalai Vanan Balakrishnan, co-chief executive of Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres), said Acres was unaware of this case, but said the incident was likely another case of an animal crossing roads that dissect two patches of green spaces or forest.

“Due to poor connectivity, the poor animals are forced to cross roads in a desperate bid to get to the other side,” said Mr Kalai Vanan. “Unfortunately, in this case, everything happened too fast, and it was likely unavoidable.”

He urges motorists to be more vigilant when driving along roads that dissect green spaces such as Lornie Road, Old Upper Thomson Road and expressways like the BKE and SLE.

Members of the public can call NParks’ Animal Response Centre at 1800-476-1600 to report sightings of any sick or dead animals.