Nature Adventures SG, Singapore (2026)

12/01/2022

Some of you might have seen Ivan on CNA recently; I was featured in a segment of the first episode of Show Me the City: On the Wild Side. The episode was broadcast on 1st January, but you can catch it on CNA Video on Demand or meWATCH:

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/watch/show-me-city/nature-our-playground-2409756

https://www.mewatch.sg/watch/Show-Me-The-City-On-The-Wild-Side-E1-Nature-Our-Playground-265005

COVID-19 has proven to us that human beings yearn to be part of nature, and being in the great outdoors is also much safer than enclosed spaces.

Show Me the City: On the Wild Side highlights the hidden wonders of nature in Singapore. We showcase the city's lesser-known and surprising green side, uncovering nature-filled nooks and crannies while profiling quirky individuals who love nature.

I had a great time bringing host Daniel Sid Music and the crew from Freestate Productions around Bukit Batok Nature Park, pointing out the many nocturnal creatures that can be found living in our midst. We weren't able to record every animal that we encountered (the crickets and freshwater crabs were too camera-shy!), but I think we got a good sample of some of the wildlife that resides there.

Do note that our nature reserves and most of our nature parks are closed after 7.00 pm, so as to reduce disturbance to wildlife residing in these areas; Bukit Batok Nature Park is one of several locations along the forest fringe that remain open to the public after dark. If you would like to join a guided night walk, do contact a professional nature guide.

09/01/2020

Although they are dependent on water for reproduction, adult dragonflies are not restricted to the water's edge. This male Dark-tipped Forest Skimmer (Cratilla metallica) was seen perched on a twig along the trail, some distance away from any forest stream or pool.

09/01/2020

Singapore's nature reserves and most of the surrounding nature parks are closed to the public at night, so as to minimise the disturbance to nocturnal wildlife. However, there are some areas at the forest fringes which remain accessible to the public after dark, giving people the opportunity to encounter some of the forest inhabitants.

Despite being separated from Bukit Timah Nature Reserve by a major road, Bukit Batok Nature Park is home to a number of forest mammals. The young secondary forest, growing on what used to be rubber plantations, is able to support a population of Malayan Colugo (Galeopterus variegatus). These gliding mammals can be spotted quite easily on trees along the footpaths, even during the day, although they are at their most active at night. Some visitors are even lucky enough to observe the colugos gliding among the treetops.

There are two living species of colugo: the Philippine Colugo (Cynocephalus volans) of the Philippines, and the Malayan or Sunda Colugo, found in mainland Southeast Asia, as well as Sumatra, Borneo, and Java. However, recent research suggests that this is an oversimplification, and that both the Philippine and Malayan Colugos actually comprise multiple distinct species.

Although often called flying lemurs (a misnomer, since they are not lemurs, nor are they able to fly), and sometimes mistakenly called 'flying foxes' by some locals, the colugos belong to their own family (F. Cynocephalidae) within their own order, Dermoptera. They are actually close relatives of primates, with some mammalogists classifying them as the closest living relatives of primates, while others consider them to be more closely related to the treeshrews (F. Tupaiidae), another group of Southeast Asian mammals affiliated with primates.

Colugos have very specialised feeding habits, consuming leaves of various forest trees, as well as buds, flowers, fruits, and sap. The difficulty in replicating such a diet is one of the reasons why most attempts to keep colugos alive in captivity have failed. To see a colugo, you have to head into the forest to spot one in the wild.

09/01/2020

A male Sultan (Camacinia gigantea) on its perch. This is a member of the skimmer dragonfly family (F. Libellulidae), and is easily twice the size of many other species of skimmer. It breeds in ponds with lots of vegetation, but adults can disperse over great distances, and are often seen far from water. Although it is widespread and has been recorded along forest edges and in many parks, the Sultan is not a common species.

08/01/2020

Geckos are familiar to most of us, but what many people don't realise is that there are several different species that are known to occupy buildings and other artificial structures.

The largest species of 'house gecko' found in Singapore is the Spotted House Gecko (Gekko monarchus); with a total length of potentially more than 20 centimetres (with an intact tail), this is easily almost twice the size of other gecko species commonly seen on walls and buildings. Only the Tokay Gecko (Gekko gecko), which is believed to be introduced here and has a restricted distribution in Singapore, exceeds it in size.

The Spotted House Gecko is usually not seen in the middle of urban areas; instead, it seems to have a preference for secondary forests and other densely vegetated areas close to people, and is typically seen on buildings, walls, and drains along the forest edge. It is easily recognised by its large size, as well as the pairs of spots running down its back and the black bars on the tail.

07/01/2020

The most widespread and common civet species found in Singapore is the Common Palm Civet (Paradoxurus musangus), often simply known by the Malay name for civet, musang. It can be found in various habitats, such as forests, secondary woodland, abandoned plantations and fruit orchards, and mangroves, but has also adapted to urban environments, inhabiting parks and residential neighbourhoods. This individual was spotted in the tall trees along one of the footpaths during a night walk in Bukit Batok Nature Park.

Common Palm Civets are very good climbers, and easily scale trees and walls. Fruits make up a large proportion of their diet, but they also take all sorts of smaller creatures, such as insects, frogs, reptiles, rats and other small mammals, as well as birds and their eggs. In the past, civets were regarded as pests, because they ate fruits and preyed on poultry.

In many low-rise housing estates in Southeast Asia, Common Palm Civets visit fruiting trees, rummage around backyards, raise their young in roof spaces and frolic on the rooftops, and eat pet food or fruits left outside. Neighbourhoods where residents have planted favoured fruit trees such as Mango (Mangifera indica) and Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) may have lots of civet encounters. Urban civets have also adapted to eat the seed pods of the Rain Tree (Samanea saman), which is interesting since this species is not native to Southeast Asia. Even if they remain out of sight, the presence of civets can be confirmed by finding their droppings, which they often leave in prominent locations.

The Common Palm Civet (or Asian Palm Civet) was once considered to be a single wide-ranging species known as Paradoxurus hermaphroditus, with a distribution covering most of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. However, due to recent research, what was formerly known as the Common Palm Civet has been split up into three species; the populations in the lowlands of Myanmar, Thailand, and Indochina, south to Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, and Java, are now considered to be a species called Paradoxurus musangus, with Sumatran Palm Civet as a recommended common name.

07/01/2020

As its name suggests, the Ornamental Tree Trunk Spider (Herennia multipuncta) lives on tree trunks, where it spins a fine, ladder-like web just above the surface of the bark.

Like with many other spiders, this species displays extreme sexual dimorphism; the females are many times larger than the males. In this series of photos, the female is the larger individual, with a white abdomen, whereas the male is tiny in comparison, and is mostly reddish.

This size disparity makes mating an extremely risky affair for males of many spider species, since a suitor may end up getting eaten by the female instead. This has driven the evolution of various complex courtship behaviours, much of which is meant to signal to the female that she is being approached by a potential mate, not a meal.

Spider copulation is bizarre by our standards. The male spider lacks a p***s. Instead, he spins a small s***m web, and then ej******es into it. His s***m is then drawn up into enlarged, syringe-like structures at the tips of his pedipalps (the pair of leg-like appendages located on each side of his mouthparts). Upon successfully courting a female, copulation occurs when he inserts the tip of one of his pedipalps into one of her two ge***al openings, and injects his s***m. If she does not chase or eat him, he may repeat the act with his other pedipalp.

In the Ornamental Tree Trunk Spider and its relatives, mating gets even stranger; when the male is done and disengages, the tip of his pedipalp breaks off, and is left inside the female. This serves as a plug, blocking other males from being able to inseminate her via that opening. A male may use both his left and right pedipalps, breaking both their tips in the process, effectively castrating him. Although this means that he won’t be able to mate again for the rest of his (short) life, he often remains close to the female for some time, aggressively seeing off rivals. Experiments show that after losing one or both of his pedipalps, an 'eu**ch' has improved endurance, allowing him to fight for a longer period of time compared to a virgin male. This increases the chances of his s***m being used to fertilise the female's future broods.

27/11/2019

A Dark-sided Chorus Frog that was found among the leaf litter next to a pond at Labrador Park. This species is common and widespread, and is present in various habitats, from secondary forest to grasslands, from marshes to urban parks and gardens. Although large numbers can be heard calling, especially after heavy rain, spotting one of these tiny frogs among the grass and ground cover can be extremely difficult.

26/11/2019

A camera-shy Giant Millipede (Thyropygus sp.) seen at the base of a roadside tree growing just outside the forest edge.

@ Old Upper Thomson

25/11/2019

A Singapore Tarantula (Phlogiellus inermis) seen wandering on the ground along the forest edge.

While female tarantulas are usually content to remain in their burrows, only emerging to grab any prey that passes by, males are more likely to be encountered in the open as they roam about, searching for potential mates.

There are at least 3 different species of tarantula in Singapore - the so-called Singapore Tarantula or Singapore Brown Tarantula is the most commonly seen; it is a comparatively small species that is fairly widespread. It is present in both forests and more disturbed areas, and their burrows can even be found in some urban parks and residents' gardens.

@ Old Upper Thomson

Nature Adventures SG

12/01/2022

09/01/2020

09/01/2020

09/01/2020

08/01/2020

07/01/2020

07/01/2020

27/11/2019

26/11/2019

25/11/2019

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Listing takedown request