October 22, 2021

"Singapore’s otters are... testament to Singapore’s reforestation and ­anti-pollution efforts. When the otters resettled here in 2014..."

"... they returned to clean waterways with schools of fish untouched by predators for decades. The city has since implemented an ambitious plan to interweave green and urban ­areas, including creating wildlife corridors so that every resident will live within a 10-minute walk of a park by 2030. 'It doesn’t have to be a concrete jungle,' said Anbarasi Boopal, the co-CEO of Animal Concerns Research and Education Society, Singapore’s wildlife rescue center. 'Singapore has a huge potential to be a new model for where greenery, animals and people can learn to live in close proximity... There will be resistance. We are so used to having everything presented to us so nicely.... I tell people, we cannot train the animals. I cannot train the monkey. But I can train you.'"

From "Otters are taking over Singapore" (WaPo).

Would you co-exist with otters?

29 comments:

rcocean said...

I'm glad Singapore did this. And you know the reason? Diversity.

Mary Beth said...

In theory, yes, otters are cute. In reality? No, I don't want otter poop in or around my pool.

Narr said...

AWwwwww. Otters rule.

I'd much prefer otters as neighbors to some I have had.

rehajm said...

I do already. They’re awesome…

gilbar said...

Would you co-exist with otters?

Technically, i Already DO. Iowa is crawling with Otters; Trout poaching, Trout eating Otters
However.. Otter pelts are Just About, The FINEST pelts that there are. So, there's that

typingtalker said...

'It doesn’t have to be a concrete jungle,' [ ... ] 'Singapore has a huge potential to be a new model for where greenery, animals and people can learn to live in close proximity...

That model exists. In North America we call it The Suburbs.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Of course I would. Having them in my swimming pool might be awkward, but then I haven't got a swimming pool, and have no desire to acquire one.

Tina Trent said...

They don’t not just not get out of the pool to pee: they don’t get out of the pool to poop.

One good hunting dog should resolve the problem.

hawkeyedjb said...

Would you coexist with otters? No, certainly not. Otters are cute and filthy, and they mess up water the way big fish do. So, the choice would be to give the pool to the otters or have no pool. I would fill in the pool.

Gahrie said...

If there are no natural predators then they better be prepared to make periodic culls of the otter population.

Scott said...

"But I can train you...." Just lovely.....

Big Mike said...

Just don’t bring back the man-eating tigers.

madAsHell said...

They mark their territory with scat.

ReadDude said...

No, I watched over 20 years as the seals destroyed the beautiful Children's pool and much of the surrounding area in La Jolla.

Seals are just big otters.

Tim said...

FFS. Otters are wild animals and do not do well in close proximity to humans. There is a reason country dogs tend to be big. Otters will attack and kill small dogs and cats, and human children in some circumstances. Sorry, this will end badly.

daskol said...

Very poor odds of this ending well, but it is interesting.

Narr said...

Pay attention.

This is SINGAPORE! Those otters have some of the highest OQ scores in the world, and they know what can happen if they wiggle out of line in a tightly regulated, neo-authoritarian place like that.

Not at all like the loutish, pampered common American otter. As cute as they pretend to be, I was kidding about wanting them as neighbors.

Not as tenants either, but that goes without saying.

Big Mike said...

@daskol, +1

KellyM said...

Otters make lovely coats....

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Nope that’s pretty much over-ottered for me. When the little missus and I moved in here up against a hill we new rabbits liked the lawn and coyotes would visit. What we didn’t expect were the herds of wild donkeys that have spread from the adjacent canyon where they are a protected native fauna. No feeding or wrangling them allowed. They occasionally block traffic meandering around but are mostly gentle and not a problem with the exception of trampling my irrigation lines at the edge of the landscaping. Donkeys cut through one area with fruit trees and ground cover as a short cut when the cattle gate around the corner is shut. You can see our trail cam photo & video favorites of the local donkeys, bobcats, raccoons, coyotes etc at Instagram/mjbwolf but no otters.

Quaestor said...

I cannot train the monkey. But I can train you.

The "animal rights" movement has never been about the elevation of animals, rather it has always been about the degradation of humans.

Big Mike said...

I cannot train the monkey. But I can train you.

Not me, sonny. I’m a cantankerous ole geezer, and I revel in it.

jim said...

Yes, I can coexist with otters, though some might become coats, or hats. My dog would
need to learn to love otters the way she does rabbits.

I just hope they don't shit in the pool.

Dan from Madison said...

What could possibly go wrong?

Iman said...

They otter rethink this. As has been said, it won’t end well.

mikee said...

Singapore will allow otters, but still has to prevent mosquito-borne disease? These mammals have great public relations managers.

Skippy Tisdale said...

"The city has since implemented an ambitious plan to interweave green and urban ­areas, including creating wildlife corridors so that every resident will live within a 10-minute walk of a park by 2030."

Minneapolis did that about 150 years ago.

MikeR said...

Male authors are obsessed with the female form. From Hemingway, Updike, and so on. Male authors, obsessed with the female form. Webbed feet, furry insulating...
Oh! I'm sorry - I meant male otters!

Bunkypotatohead said...

It's so much easier to "implement an ambitious plan" than to solve the problem of otters overrunning the neighborhood.
Just rename it "diversity", like we do here in the USA.