Baby civets captured by monkey and other wildlife sightings around Singapore

Singapore's urban and green environment is home to a rich abundance of beautiful wildlife that we don't often see. In our Wildlife Around Singapore series, we share interesting flora and fauna that have been sighted around the island.

Monkey captures baby civet cats

Facebook user Daniela Moses shared rare pictures of a long-tailed macaque that had captured baby common palm civets. The monkey held one newborn civet in its mouth, and another in its hand. It was unclear why the macaque had captured the baby civet cats, but at that time it did not seem to be harming the infant animals. The animal disappeared into the forest before it could be observed what happened to the baby civets.

Daurian starling flock

The north of Singapore is currently home to a flock of migratory Daurian starlings – the birds have been sighted in Yishun and Sengkang.

Here's a video of a swirling swarm of Daurian starlings near Block 318A in Anchorvale Link in Sengkang:

Daurian starlings, also called purple-backed starlings, are usually found in Eastern Mongolia, Southeast Russia, Northeast and Central China and North Korea, but during winter in those regions, these birds migrate to Southeast Asia in huge flocks that can number up to a thousand birds.

Raffles' banded langur feasts on fig buffet

In more monkey news, Law Jia Bao came across a Raffles' banded langur feasting upon a harvest of figs in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Zoom in on the photo to see the langur's fig juice moustache!

Raffles' banded langurs are an endangered species. There are isolated populations of the monkey in southern Peninsular Malaysia as well as one remaining population in Singapore in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, which researchers believe numbers only up to 60 animals.

Kingfisher regurgitating pellet

Common kingfishers can be seen around Singapore near bodies of water, but have you ever seen one regurgitating undigested food? This kingfisher, captured by Facebook user Andrew Hunt, is coughing up a pellet of indigestible food matter such as fish bones.

Pretty crimson dragonfly up close

The crimson march glider is a common dragonfly in Singapore, but we often don't get to see these insects up close since they zip around at incredible speeds. Here's a photo of a crimson march glider, or Trithemis aurora, taken by Facebook user John Lim in his pond.

Common treeshrew

The common treeshrew is a small mammal native to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Here's one of the cute little critters at the Singapore Botanic Gardens who's just caught its lunch:

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