Attended an exhibition by Drama Box: There is No Tiger in the Mountain.

It’s about human-macaque interaction and co-existence on Pulau Ubin and uses the island as a canvas, with a mobile exhibit (Ubin taxi) and soft sculptures around a village house.

www.dramabox.org/eng/events-t...

I don't usually post zoo science but here's a cool study finding long-term survival gains in big cats (lion, tiger, snow leopard, leopard, jaguar) under ex situ care since 1874.

Authors looked at life expectancy, lifespan equality at birth, and 1st year survival.

doi.org/10.1016/j.bi...

The contrast makes it look like a tiny burrito.

Yes, I was alerted to it by a helpful member of the public. Amazing for a large mammal a tiny city!

Malayan tapir!

Estimating Sunda Clouded Leopard Lifespans From Minimum Residence Times via Long‐Term Photo‐Tracking How long do Sunda clouded leopards live in the wild? Detectability challenges and transient behavior make this elusive species difficult to track. Based on compiled photographic records, we report th....

The oldest known wild Sunda clouded leopard is a 6.51-year-old female! Similar to the oldest known mainland leopard cat too.

Pretty neat what long-term camera trap studies can tell us.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

How do you count Singapore's wild otters? YouTube video by CNA

[Watch]: The people behind Singapore’s otter census. Also a lesson in sharing the science, stories, community engagement, and clear communication.

🎥: youtu.be/XdUnzBWD4JE

'It's detective work': Finding and counting Singapore's otters More than 20 otter watchers trawled parks and waterways over two months, photographing the animals for the third population census in Singapore.

How Singapore counts its population of world famous otters.

Featuring Otterman @sivasothi.bsky.social and the Otter Working Group.

www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/ot...

Lovely creative (and conservation focused) feature of horse-y wildlife in Singapore by Letitia Chen, Ang Qing and Lim Yong of the Straits Times for the Year of the🐎.

Bonus points for the pun too.

www.straitstimes.com/singapore/en...

Cannot compare! 🦕💩

Tribute to the largest poop I ever picked up on #NationalPoopDay

It happened just this weekend, and belongs to a large wild odd-toed ungulate.

Thanks for the shout out Will!

Silver 3D printed whale skeleton suspended at the Esplanade Concorse.

Installation art Ikan besar skali by Hu Qiren at the Esplanade until Jul 2026.

It “reimagines the grandeur of historical whale displays, bridging natural history with contemporary art.”

Metal-plated 3D printed resin. Neat.

NUS study calls for reduced boat speeds, limited entry near S’pore marine mammal hot spots The study trawled through records from 1820 to 2024. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

NUS study calls for reduced boat speeds, limited entry near S’pore marine mammal hot spots

Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins and dugongs have endured in Singapore’s waters despite massive land reclamation since the 1800s and its status as a shipping hub.

www.straitstimes.com/singapore/en...

Reforestation and wild pig decline spark surge in miniature deer in Singapore Rabbit-sized, nocturnal and elusive, the greater mouse-deer hadn’t been seen in Singapore for more than 80 years. Researchers long presumed it was locally extinct. In 2008, however, researchers confir...

Lovely coverage of our research findings of mouse-deer population spike after African Swine Fever wild pig mortality in Singapore by @mongabay.com's Carolyn Cowan!

news.mongabay.com/2025/12/refo...

It's a top 10 story for the Straits Times today!

How a fatal virus sparked Pulau Ubin’s mouse-deer boom The island is now the easiest place in the world to encounter the greater mouse-deer. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Thanks Ang Qing for writing this news story on our research findings of mouse-deer population boom on Pulau Ubin after African Swine Fever all but wiped out wild pigs there.

And kudos for getting Bill Laurance & Matt Luskin to comment on the findings.

www.straitstimes.com/singapore/en...

And I'm impressed she got Bill Laurance & Matt Luskin to comment on the findings.

Rapid population growth of greater mouse-deer after active forest restoration and African Swine Fever outbreak Even as a highly urbanized city-state, Singapore has seen the recolonization of extirpated wildlife amidst habitat restoration efforts and ecological …

Methods tip: Transects are cheaper and more precise at high densities; camera traps cost more but detect rare/low-abundance species and run 24/7.

This study was part of my PhD work advised by Haw Chuan Lim & collab with NParks.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Seasonally rich food sources such as fallen Durio flowers from post succession fruit and rubber plantations attract greater mouse-deer (left) and wild pigs (right).

Why it matters: Losing a dominant generalist (wild pig) can trigger ecological cascades—altered understory, seed dispersal and species interactions. We saw diet overlap (fallen 🌼) suggesting competition.

Long-term monitoring of forest habitats is essential as wild pigs recover.

Wild pigs and piglets.

15-year trend: mouse-deer encounter rates rose 2.4x from 2009→2019, then 5.5x from 2019→2024 post-ASF.

Predicted densities: ~31/km2 (2009), ~67/km2 (2019), measured 293/km2 (2024).

Wild pigs vanished from transects in 2024 but camera traps show re-establishment at ~30/km2.

How we measured it: Intensive night transects and camera trap distance sampling.

Both estimates converged—transects: 293/km2 (CV 0.12), cameras: 264/km2 (CV 0.22)

We also validated a model linking encounter rates to density to track trends when full surveys aren’t feasible.

Graphical abstract

Greater mouse-deer on forest floor.

[New paper] After the 2023 African Swine Fever outbreak, greater mouse-deer density on Pulau Ubin, Singapore surged to 293/km2—the highest known for the species.

Likely drivers: >98% wild pig mortality, active reforestation and low predation pressure.

doi.org/10.1016/j.bi...

Yellow Wellington boots, one with split on the heel.

RIP boots: 2015–2025
I didn’t expect we’d be such close friends again, protecting me through two big whale defleshing ops.

It’s been a month into the salvage of the roqual whale, with the days long and I’ve been onsite daily during workdays.

So touched by my colleagues showing concern about my wellbeing, feeding and hydration. Still don’t know who the snacks are from but thanks!

Baleen whale found dead in waters off Tanjong Pagar likely struck by ship Based on its skull, the decomposing whale would have measured about 10.6m long when alive. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Also, practically smelling like rotting whale everyday. But so grateful for my LKCNHM colleagues who have shown up to help with this massively smelly and laborious process. Many weeks to go!

Thanks Ang Qing for the story about our salvage efforts (so far)!

www.straitstimes.com/singapore/en...

Work to preserve baleen whale that surfaced off Tanjong Pagar under way The 6.3m-long carcass is likely to have been swept into Singapore’s waters. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The salvage of this dead baleen whale has been the main preoccupation of my waking hours since the start of September.

www.straitstimes.com/singapore/en...

Back in Spain after two great weeks at the Lee Kong Chian and Thailand National Natural History Museums. Always a pleasure to catch up with friends, start new collabs and examine amazing specimens. Huge thanks to @marcuschua.bsky.social and the THNHM collections team for being such wonderful hosts!

The organizing committee created a fun photo booth with “Team Vert” and “Team Invert”—what a way to start a war!

The LKCNHM Public Research Symposium 2025 is underway!

My colleagues and I will be sharing about specimens, science and stories from the museum with members of the public, and I will be giving a talk and moderating a panel discussion.

Excited to share our science and research!