crocodile and otters at sungei buloh

in the past, whenever i heard visitors to sungei buloh wetland reserve mention that they had seen a crocodile, i would always brush it off as a case of mistaken identity. 'these people can't tell a monster monitor lizard from a crocodile'. now, i am not so sceptical because i saw one - a baby crocodile -in the sungai buloh besar today. at high tide, it was 'floating like a log' seawards, towards the river mouth.

when i reported this to the officer at the reception, he told me that there was a bigger one, an adult crocodile in the same river. to him, today was my lucky day because i saw not only the crocodile but also a family of otters. i had seen the otters before i chanced upon the crocodile.

the family of otters were forlicking in the pond near the visitors' centre. i was on my way to the mangrove walk when i first heard some squealing sounds. i recognised them immediately as those made by otters. all my four previous sightings of otters were all made when the tide was low. i had not expected to see the otters as it was high tide.

they were chasing one another in the muddy water of the pond, emerging now and then among the water lettuce and water hyacinth to peer around. there were at least three monitor lizards stalking in the pond but otters did not seem to be part of their diet. still, the otters were quite wary of them; they did not get too close to the lizards.

i think there were two adult otters and three or four young ones. could be the same family i once saw near the mouth of sungai buloh besar. one moment, they were all in the water. the next moment, as if a signal had been given, all of them clambered onto the dry ground. they were playing on the ground for a while but when i tried to get near them, they all disappeared.

i walked to the bridge to look for them. after a while, i found them. they were swimming up the river. soon after that, they disappeared. i was about to leave when i spied the 'log' floating out to sea. the crocodile appeared to be lifeless but after it passed under the bridge, i found it moving towards some trees by the side of the river.

smooth otters of sungei buloh

today, after more than ten visits to the sungei buloh wetland reserve, i finally managed to set eyes on the smooth otters of sungei buloh. i did not see them on the outward journey. it was when i was walking back to the visitors' centre that i saw three small figures out in the sea on the sand spit. i suspected they were the otters, so i walked right up to the edge of the platform to have a closer look at them.

there were three of them. they were the size of a small dog. they were feeding on some fish which they had caught in the small cove. i had seen the fish, slim and about 30cm long, jumping out of the water when i stopped there earlier. after sometime, one of them continued with his eating while the other two went forlicking in the shallow water. apparently, otters are playful creatures.

i checked with one of the three young soldiers who was there on security duty and he told me that the three otters were frequent visitors to the same spot on the small sand spit. they were not there every day but he had seen them often enough to know their habit.

platform 1 is about 1km from the main bridge across sungei buloh besar. after crossing the main bridge, turn right. at platform 1, there is a shelter erected for the national servicemen who are on surveillance duty.