One of the most surprising things about Singapore is that it's not only so lushly green and fecund with plant life, but it's increasingly attractive to wild animal life. I haven't managed to see the otters yet, but this last recent trip, it became quickly obvious that wild chickens are now a "thing" there.
The photo above was near my hotel, pretty close to Chinatown, and as you can see, the busy road was no deterrent. (It was, perhaps, thinking about crossing it...ha ha.) This was not the only one I saw. While having dinner at a footpath place there were a few on the nearby bit of lawn one evening.
And this recent article explains what's been going on:
Since 2020, the National Parks Board (NParks) has received more than 1,000 reports annually about free-ranging chickens, said Ms Jessica Kwok, group director of NParks’ Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS).
Animal Concerns Research and Education Society's (ACRES) co-chief executive Anbarasi Boopal told CNA that the animal welfare group has seen an increase in feedback related to the chickens. There were nine reports in 2019 as compared to 18 reports last year and 14 reports in 2022 so far, she said.
Feedback came from locations “more or less” all over Singapore, such as Marine Parade, Pasir Ris, and Ang Mo Kio, said Ms Anbarasi.
Add to that list - Tanjong Pagar, where I saw "my" chickens. I think they are more widespread than even that recent article notes. More from it:
The issue of wild chickens came to the fore in 2017, when the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) revealed that it put down 24 chickens that were wandering around Thomson View and Blocks 452 to 454 Sin Ming Avenue. There were about 20 complaints from residents there, mainly about noise.
The incident sparked an outcry. AVA later clarified that it was not because of complaints of noise, but the risk of exposure to bird flu that prompted them to cull the chickens in areas where there are “relatively high numbers” of them.
Since then, a task force has been set up to deal with the chicken population at Sin Ming.
But just a moment - was my chicken actually a "junglefowl":
At the same time, not all wild birds are alike.
Often confused for wild chickens, native red junglefowl can also be spotted throughout Singapore even though they were rare a decade or so ago.
While they may look similar to chickens, they have a number of characteristics that set them apart, said Dr Yong Ding Li, the regional coordinator for migratory bird conservation and an ornithologist at BirdLife International.
These junglefowl have grey legs, unlike domestic chickens which generally have yellow legs. They also have a shorter and more abrupt call and a white tuft of feathers on their rump. However, many hybrids exist and it can be hard to tell them apart.
"It's very common that junglefowl come into contact with these farm chickens and they hybridise on and off, on and off, so the genes of these junglefowl and chicken have been mixing," he said.
Junglefowl have become increasingly common over the last few decades as they have "colonised" more habitats across the island, added Dr Yong.
In the early 2000s, red junglefowl were mostly found in the Western Catchment Area and Pulau Ubin, but they can now be spotted in many urban areas and most nature reserves, he added.
OK, so maybe my picture is a fine specimen of a junglefowl, but it's still surprising that such a densely packed city like Singapore has more of them around than ever before. (Or, I guess, maybe it's just a case of reduced bushland in which to hide.)
Anyway, I like seeing them.
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