SINGAPORE: A wild boar was shot by police on Tuesday evening (Nov 21) for "endangering public safety" at Punggol West Flyover.

In a statement, the police said they were alerted to an accident involving a wild boar and a car on Punggol West Flyover at about 7pm.



An injured wild boar was lying on the road when police officers and staff members from the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) arrived.

"The wild boar got up and charged towards the officers and members of the public within the vicinity," the police said.



Officers fired their tasers at the boar, but it continued to charge towards them and members of the public.



"As the wild boar was rampaging and was a danger to the people within the vicinity, an officer had to draw his revolver to fire a shot at it, to stop it from injuring anyone," the police said.





The boar, which measured 1.5m from head to tail, was shot in the neck. It was injured and was handed over to ACRES, the police added.

Nobody was injured in the incident.



In a statement, ACRES said it had to euthanise the animal due to its injuries from the gunshot. "We have assessed this particular case and it is a very unfortunate situation where the boar most certainly became very stressed due to injuries sustained from its collision with a vehicle. The poor animal probably found itself cornered and became defensive."

It added that wild animals in general are shy animals who usually move away when sighted. However in this situation, the cramped area with high human traffic had stressed the boar.

ACRES urged the public not to approach wild animals but to give them space.

Screenshot of Punggol West Flyover from Google Maps.

Several people also posted on social media about the incident.

Facebook user Nazrin Bin Suhaimi warned commuters to avoid the Tampines Expressway exit to Sengkang East Road because of a "dead wild boar on the road covering two lanes".

"Massive jam," he added.

Another Facebook user Abang Pete wrote in a post that he saw it "struggling and kicking away" while he was driving on Sengkang East Road.

"It looked somewhat like a cow lying on the road," he wrote. "When my headlights shone on the poor thing, I realised that it was a huge wild boar, possibly hit by a passing vehicle.

"What registered in my memory was its eyes looking at my lights," he added. "It was fearful, and noticeably in pain.

"You know, I hate wild boars and they are what I consider the apex adversaries of the Singaporean soldier, but to see it like that, to put it mildly, was disturbing."

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said in a Facebook post that it will monitor the situation at Punggol area closely.



"We will continue to work with the relevant stakeholders, such as ACRES, WRS (Wildlife Reserves Singapore), NParks and NUS to manage the wild boars so as to ensure public safety," it said.



It added that they are exploring various measures, such as erecting barriers to prevent wildlife from encroaching onto roads, and putting up signs about wildlife crossings to warn motorists.



AVA advised the public to keep a safe distance from the wild boars and avoid confronting or cornering them.



"Do not interact with the wild boars and keep young children and pets away from them."

In a tweet at around 7.45pm, the Land Transport Authoirty warned of an accident on Sengkang East Road near the junction between Punggol Road and Sengkang East Road.

Accident on Sengkang East Road near Punggol Road/Sengkang East Road Junction — LTATrafficNews (@LTAtrafficnews) November 21, 2017

Last month, a man was injured after a wild boar attacked him at Hillview Road. He suffered a deep cut of about 10cm on his thigh. A Taiwanese woman was also injured by a boar near Windsor Park in July.

Authorities have said that they are working on managing wild boar issues in Singapore after reports of more sightings near residential areas.