‘It’s detective work’: Finding and counting Singapore’s otters

She and 20 other otter watchers were helping to collect data for Singapore’s third population census of smooth-coated otters, photographing them and noting down relevant information.

That data was then verified by Ms Michelle Tan, who was working on the census for her final-year project as a life sciences student at the National University of Singapore (NUS). She submitted the project in April 2025.

The census is undergoing scientific review and will be published later this year.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Ms Tan was new to otter watching when she embarked on her final-year project, so the first step was to receive an orientation from those who were more experienced.

They are familiar with where the otters might be, but even then, the creatures could prove elusive.

“A refrain that you hear often is, oh the otters, they are everywhere … but when you actually count them, (they are) not that easy to find,” said Ms Chong.