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SINGAPORE: Since 2017, Ms Marjorie Chong has loved watching otters. She\u2019s an active member of the Otter Working Group, and usually goes to watch the semiaquatic animals two to three times a week.<\/span><\/p>\n But there can be too much of a good thing \u2013 she once spent about 400 hours looking for otters over two months.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe two months felt very long,\u201d Ms Chong said with a laugh. \u201cBut we believed in it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She and 20 other otter watchers were helping to collect data for Singapore\u2019s third population census of smooth-coated otters, photographing them and noting down relevant information.<\/span><\/p>\n 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.<\/span><\/p>\n The census is undergoing scientific review and will be published later this year.<\/span><\/p>\n 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.<\/span><\/p>\n They are familiar with where the otters might be, but even then, the creatures could prove elusive.<\/span><\/p>\nWHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE<\/h2>\n