Rare ant-eater killed along Jalan Bahar

Jane Ng, Straits Times 11 Aug 08;

A PANGOLIN or scaly ant-eater has been found killed along Jalan Bahar in Jurong West.

Head of Nature Trekker Singapore, Mr Ben Lee, 46, found the endangered animal on Saturday while travelling along the quiet stretch of road.

There are about 50 such pangolins left in Singapore, with three being studied at the Singapore Zoo.

The nocturnal animal lives in burrows and is usually solitary in nature, foraging on forest floor looking for ants. It is also able to climb trees.

According to Mr Lee, who has been studying the natural history of Singapore fauna for the past 30 years, this species is rare and usually not seen by people except when it is killed on the road like in this case.

He believes the forested area along Jalan Bahar has some of Singapore's most precious remnants of wildlife, including the leopard cat, mouse deer and civet cat.

He said a leopard cat was also killed along the same stretch of road at Jalan Bahar a few months ago.

Rare scaly anteater a victim of road accident
Straits Times 11 Aug 08;

A pangolin or scaly anteater has been found dead along Jalan Bahar in Jurong West.

The head of Nature Trekker Singapore, Mr Ben Lee, 46, found the animal - part of an endangered species - on Saturdaywhile travelling along the quiet stretch of road.

There are about 50 such pangolins left in Singapore, with three being studied at the Singapore Zoo. The nocturnal animal lives in burrows and is usually solitary in nature, foraging for ants on the forest floor. It is able to climb trees.

Mr Lee believes the forested area along Jalan Bahar has some of Singapore's most precious remnants of wildlife, including the leopard cat, mouse deer and civet cat. He said a leopard cat had also been found killed along the same stretch of road a few months ago.

NATURE TREKKER SINGAPORE

Related articles

Pangolins in Singapore

Our Pangolin on the Wildlife Singapore website

Norman Lim's study of our Pangolins on the Department of Biological Sciences NUS website.

Pangolin at Bukit Panjang Straits Times 30 Jan 08;

Pulau Ubin: Illegal animal traps getting bigger Tracy Sua, Straits Times 8 Jan 08;

Tekong's treasures Chang Ai-Lien The Straits Times 25 Apr 05

Pangolins in general

Huge Pangolin haul shows crackdown is working
WWF website 5 Aug 08;

Call for regional effort to save pangolins
Shobana Kesava, Straits Times 3 Jul 08;

Tons of pangolins seized in a week WWF 21 Mar 08;

Thailand saves pangolins bound for China restaurants Yahoo News 10 Nov 07;