You’ve seen photos on social media of wildlife returning to closed cities world wide. Dolphins appear on Italy’s waterways, deer roam the streets of Nara, and in London, red foxes might be spotted in quiet parks. It’s no different in Southeast Asia – especially on beaches and national parks, which are often stuffed with tourists. From rare leatherback turtles to lovely furry creatures in Singapore, wildlife is increasingly appearing in Southeast Asia.
Turtles in Phang Nga
In February, employees and guests of Banyan Tree Samui, a resort on Koh Samui’s southwestern coast, witnessed a rare natural phenomenon: a green turtle emerging from the water in the midst of the night to put its eggs on the beach, the web site reported Timeout.com.
According to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, this was the primary such incident in six years. The turtle, which is believed to be around 10 to 25 years old, laid greater than 500 eggs in five nests over a four-week period. To provide protection, the hotel built shelters across the eggs.
Otters in Singapore and Malaysia
The endangered otter in Malaysia has been declining for a few years. However, through the Covid-19 lockdown (locally generally known as Traffic control order), otters were spotted in a often crowded place Lake Putrajaya and a number of other other lakes inland in Malaysia. This was consistent with cleaner air and other environmental improvements seen in Malaysia during MCO. Otters are a protected species under Malaysian law
In Singapore, at the very least 90 otters, belonging to 10 thriving families, survive the island nation, and their population is growing because of abundant food sources – resembling koi ponds – and a scarcity of predators. “National Geographic”. reported. The twenty-pound creatures also adapted well to this urban spacesburying themselves in concrete bridges and basking within the flakes of sand between the pavement slabs. (In one funny incident the otters climbed a metal maintenance ladder to exit the canal.)
Langur Monkeys within the national parks of Thailand
In March, videos and photos appeared online showing a gang of ravenous monkeys taking up the streets and abandoned town hall of Prachuab Khiri Khan in central Thailand. The constructing was abandoned after the provincial government moved to a brand new constructing. The authorities took no motion to eliminate the monkeys, but simply left them alone.
It is now a family of langurs, and their newborns have been seen in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in Thailand, as national parks across the country have been closed since late March.
Dugong near Cape Ju Hoi
Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said in a Facebook post that officials sent to examine coral reefs had observed a marked increase within the variety of fish amongst them.
The department ordered StarA marine conservationist reported seeing dugongs day-after-day, sometimes in groups of about five to 6, near the island of Ko Libong in southern Thailand.
Dugongs are herbivorous marine mammals which have been listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The wildlife department also released drone footage of a herd of about 30 dugongs near Ko Libong that was shot on Tuesday.
