Elderly woman falls after boar pulls her bag of food

Straits Times 19 Sep 12;

AN ELDERLY woman fell and broke her hip after a wild boar in Pulau Ubin went for a bag of food she was carrying.

Madam Lin Hui Juan, 64, was operated on yesterday morning, reported Chinese newspaper Lianhe Wanbao.

The Bukit Panjang resident had gone for a half-day tour to Pulau Ubin on Sunday when the attack happened at 11am.

The group of more than 40 members was near Chek Jawa when a female boar, with two other small boars, appeared near some bicycle stands.

The group began taking pictures of the boars and feeding them. Madam Lin was nearby but was busy haggling over the transport fare with a van driver.

The female boar suddenly charged and tugged at a bag filled with food that Madam Lin was carrying on her shoulder.

Caught unawares, she lost her footing and fell. A group member rushed over and grabbed the bag from the boar, which later ran off.

Madam Lin was shouting in pain and could not stand up, said a fellow group member. She was carried by the group members to the van and taken to the National University Hospital.

Zoologist Diong Cheong Hoong said the group should have kept a distance from the boars and refrained from feeding them.

"If there is a group of people, the boars are more easily provoked and have a tendency to charge, especially if they have sniffed out food," he said.

"And if the piglets are still suckling, the sow will be particularly sensitive and will charge to defend her piglets."

Last December, a boar killed a pet dog in the Chestnut area. Three months ago, one attacked a security guard and a boy.

The National Parks Board has since decided to cull the animals to control their numbers.

JANICE TAI

She breaks hip in boar attack on Pulau Ubin
Madam Lin Hui Juan who fractured her hip after a wild boar knocked her down during her excursion to Pulau Ubin.
Hedy Khoo The New Paper AsiaOne 21 Sep 12;

Attracted by a bag of food she was carrying, a wild boar charged at the 64-year-old woman, causing her to fall and break her hip.

The injury required her to undergo an operation at National University Hospital (NUH) tuesday morning, reported Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao.

Madam Lin Hui Juan, a Bukit Panjang resident, was on a half-day excursion organised by a residents' committee to Chek Jawa on Pulau Ubin on Sunday morning when the incident happened at about 11am.

She was among the group of 40 who each received a red recyclable bag containing food and water.

After visiting Chek Jawa, the group started negotiating with a bus driver over the fare to take them back to the jetty.

Then a female wild boar with two piglets appeared and they did not seem afraid of humans. The group took photos of the animals and even fed them.

At that time, Madam Lin was carrying the red recyclable bag on her left arm. Suddenly, the sow charged at Madam Lin from behind, causing her to fall on her left side.

A group member said Madam Lin was unaware of the boar near her as she was bargaining with the bus driver over the fare.

After she fell, someone helped her retrieve the bag, while Madam Lin remained on the ground, groaning in pain. She was also unable to stand up.

She was then carried into a taxi, onto the boat at the jetty and taken to NUH.

It is believed Madam Lin's husband was with her during the excursion.

Advice to visitors

A Pulau Ubin resident said visitors to the island should avoid wearing red clothes and carrying red plastic bags as the colour attracts the attention of monkeys and wild boars.

He added that there have been instances of visitors who had hung red plastic bags of food on their bicycles being attacked by wild boars.

Wild-boar sightings are getting more common in Singapore.

On Sept 5, Wanbao reported an incident of a wild boar which was killed when it was hit by a car on Upper Thomson Road.

The driver said the animal had dashed out suddenly from the bushes at the side of the road.

In August, a pet dog out on a walk was believed to have been gored by a wild boar at Adam Drive, off Adam Road. The chocolate labrador survived.

And in June, two wild boars which wandered into Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park knocked down a five-year-old boy and a patrolling Cisco protection officer, who hurt his hand in the fall.

Following the attacks in the Park, the National Parks Board decided to control the wild boar population in the Lower Peirce area by culling.

Last month, it was decided that the animals would be rounded up before being sedated with dart guns and euthanised with drug injections.

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