Wild Singapore: Otters, Mangroves and Rainforest

Singapore’s wild side, from the smooth-coated otters of its reservoirs and rivers to the mangroves of Sungei Buloh and Chek Jawa, the primary rainforest of Bukit Timah and the Central Catchment, and the Mandai Wildlife Reserve, with a directory of the parks and reserves in our guide. Facts from the National Parks Board (NParks), Mandai and UNESCO.

Singapore is a garden city with a wild streak. Families of smooth-coated otters swim the reservoirs and canals and sun themselves on the riverbanks; long-tailed macaques watch walkers in the forest; and migratory shorebirds rest on the mudflats of the north coast on their long journeys between the Arctic and Australasia.

Most of it is a short MRT or bus ride from the centre, in reserves run by the National Parks Board (NParks). Go early, when the forest is cool and the animals are about, keep to the trails, and never feed the wildlife.

Mangroves and mudflats

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, on the north-west coast, covers 202 hectares of mangroves, mudflats and ponds, with its Visitor Centre at 60 Kranji Way. It is open from 7am to 7pm (last entry 6.30pm), and NParks suggests August to April for migratory waders. From Kranji MRT station, take bus 925, or 925M on Sundays and public holidays.

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On Pulau Ubin, a bumboat ride from Changi, the Chek Jawa wetlands have a boardwalk with a Coastal Loop of 600 metres and a Mangrove Loop of 500 metres, and the seven-storey Jejawi Tower, 21 metres high, looks out over the canopy. The wetlands are about three kilometres from the Ubin jetty, by bicycle, van or a walk of about 40 minutes.

The rainforest

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, at the end of Hindhede Drive, covers 163 hectares and holds what NParks describes as Singapore’s largest surviving primary rainforest; it was declared an ASEAN Heritage Park in 2011. It is open from 7am to 7pm, and Beauty World is the nearest MRT station.

The forest continues in the Central Catchment, around MacRitchie Reservoir, and at Windsor Nature Park on Venus Drive, 75 hectares open from 7am to 7pm. Long-tailed macaques live throughout: keep food out of sight, and don’t approach, provoke or feed them.

A city where otter families commute along the canals and primary rainforest grows within sight of the towers.

Gardens and the Mandai parks

The Singapore Botanic Gardens, at 1 Cluny Road, were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015, and NParks calls them “the first and only tropical botanic garden on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List”; they are open daily from 5am to midnight. In the north, the Mandai Wildlife Reserve brings together Singapore Zoo, the Night Safari, Bird Paradise, River Wonders and Rainforest Wild beside the forest of the Central Catchment.

Feature: the otters of the city

Smooth-coated otters have made Singapore’s waterways their own, from the reservoirs to the canals and the river in the city centre, and NParks counts more than ten families living across the main island. They are protected under Singapore’s Wildlife Act and listed as endangered locally.

NParks asks you to keep a safe distance, never to feed, touch, chase or corner them, especially when pups are about, since the adults protect their young, and to keep dogs on a taut leash.

Did you know? Researchers who mapped the otters’ return found that smooth-coated otters arrived in Singapore from neighbouring Johor from 1998 and spread across the island’s waterways after 2013.

Our advice

Our advice: go to the reserves at 7am, when they open and the forest is coolest, and carry water. Visit Sungei Buloh between August and April for the migratory birds. Keep to the trails, keep a safe distance from otters and macaques, never feed any wild animal, and check NParks for closures and works before you set out.