Wildlife in Singapore
When most people think of Singapore, I think they think of a modern city, with the skyline of Marina Bay Sands and the Singapore Flyer. This is certainly a part of the story, however, it’s not the full picture. For one thing, a huge portion of Singapore is small towns known as “heartlands” that most tourists never venture into. For another, another huge section of Singapore is jungle or wetlands. Singapore is a tiny island and it is dedicated to protecting a certain amount of green space. Some of this green space is removed from the city and heartlands because it exists on separate islands, such as Chek Jawa on Pulau Ubin, where you can find wild boars, monkeys, snakes, crabs, and a wide variety of birds and butterflies, or the Sisters Islands where monkeys make their home. However, some of this wildlife is close to the city- in local nature parks, at the water reservoir, or in untouched space that borders the towns. Here are some examples of local wildlife that I’ve encountered in Singapore.
While Chek Jawa and Pulau Ubin are probably the best places to view wildlife in Singapore, if it’s lizards you’re looking for, you won’t need to venture that far. Unfortunately, lizards are so common in Asia that they are frequently found indoors and small geckos have even earned the name “house lizards”. I don’t care for these creatures, but they’re harmless. However, one type of lizard you probably want to find in your living room is the Asian water monitor. These are large, strong carnivorous lizards who make their home in or near the water.
Finally, as I mentioned earlier, some of these animals live on the main island of Singapore, on the edges of the towns and in local parks. This means that sometimes the lines are blurred between nature and city, as is the case in the photos below that I took on my phone outside my HDB flat.
I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the wildlife I have encountered in Singapore.
This post is part of the a-z challenge.
Lovely post, Karen. As you may have already guessed, I’m a big fan of wildlife. I love that pic of the monkey! 🙂
Susan A Eames from
Travel, Fiction and Photos
Susan A Eames recently posted…W IS FOR WHALE : A-Z Challenge
Thank you!
That wild boar doesn’t look too nervous about having you take his photo. And I love the colours on the crabs.
I always love nature photography.
Frank (bbqboy)
Frank recently posted…Highlights of Verona, Italy. And wondering why Julietâs House is so darn popular.
Hi Frank. We enjoy nature photography to some degree, but we also find it very challenging. The most interesting subjects require so much patience. The boars were easy to photograph though. As you said, they are calm, but people don’t try to touch them or poke them with their selfie sticks, like I recently saw going on with monkeys in Bali. I don’t get that.
Nice shots, Karen! The boar is cute! I wouldn’t want to be too close to the water monitor, though.
Thank you Carleen! I was surprised at how cute the boars were.