the smooth otters of sungei buloh

you can read about the smooth otters here.

i have seen the otters in various parts of the sungei buloh wetland reserve. the first time i saw them was at the sand spit, at low tide, near platform one. at that time, the soldiers were still on the lookout for the famous fugitive. i asked one of the soldiers and he told me that the otters usually made their appearances at low tide.

the second time i saw them, they were frolicking in the sungei buloh besar and later chasing one another on the river bank. there were six of them, two adults and four kids.

subsequently, i saw them twice in the muddy pond near the visitors' centre. again, it was a family of six i saw. they were playing in the water and abruptly, on a given signal, they all got out of the pond, clambered onto the land and proceeded to the river where they swam upstream.

i have also seen a solitary one at the pond between stations 5 and 6. it was hunting for fish on its own.

today was the first time i saw the otters on the track. at first, i thought they were puppies but when they looked up, i recognised them as otters. if they are from the same family - they must be - they have really grown. the kids are now as big as the adults. four of them were on the track and three others were in the pond on the left. again, when the leader gave a signal, all of them moved quickly to the pond on the right. they soon disappeared into the water.

one of the staff members at the reception commented that i was lucky to have had so many sightings of the otters. my explanation was that because i moved about alone, there was minimum noise to scare them away.