Which one is native to Singapore?
(
Left: Photo by
kwokwai76)
(
Right: Photo by
flipkeat)
It's a running gag among nature enthusiasts in Singapore that many members of the public are ignorant of our own wildlife, and that even common native species are bound to get confused with species not found locally. As a result, our monitor lizards become "
Komodo dragons" or "
iguanas", agamid lizards are "
chameleons", sunbirds are mistaken for "
hummingbirds", egrets and herons are "
cranes" or "
storks", our otters are "
sea otters", and these are the most obvious errors we've heard of so far.
It is saddening that many people seem to be more familiar with wildlife found in other parts of the world. Perhaps it's because of the prevalence of wildlife documentaries focusing on ecosystems and species found on other continents, or the infusion of American pop culture. Faced with a small, vaguely cat-like mammal in their gardens or on their rooftops, with a dark eye-mask, it's not surprising that some local residents think that they have seen a common raccoon (
Procyon lotor), when in fact this is a species native only to North and Central America. In most cases, any reports of "raccoons" in Singapore are likely to be misidentified common palm civets (
Paradoxurus hermaphroditus).
