Hog Wild at NTU – more neighbors
This morning I lucked out and saw wild pigs: a mother and adolescent! They were walking along the ugly new fence that now separates the NTU campus from the military training jungle. I think the fence is there to protect the Youth Olympic Games kids from rampaging Singapore servicemen. (Although I also saw about 50 servicemen this morning, and they look too damn hot and tired to rampage – maybe the gov’t is expecting incursions by the Malaysian military? But they too would be hot and tired by the time they got here.) It now blocks the pretty view I used to enjoy of the jungle – the only open green prospect that exists around here – and the erection of each new fence post was a stab to my heart. But the pigs didn’t seem worried. They live in the jungle on the other side of the fence; they make nightly incursions onto campus to dig for grubs and tubers, and seemed confident that they would eventually find a way around. I didn’t have my camera, but ImageLanka and EcologyAsia obligingly have nice pictures of the critters for you.
Adults on the left, babies to the right. Apparently these are Eurasian wild pigs (Sus Scrofa), ancestors of domestic hogs and of European and American wild boars. Cool, eh?