The decision to cull the wild boar population is a foregone conclusion. The REAL issue is not whether we should or should not cull, but how that decision was arrived at. It is a prime example of how governance as it is being practiced in Singapore has gone awry.
NParks, the organisation that is supposed to be looking after our natural resources turned out to be the leading advocate of the cull. This is a little disconcerting, almost like finding out that the police chief is also the mafia boss!
When it suits its purpose, it is willing to quote 'experts' views eg: on the loss of wild gingers and seeds of rain forest trees due to wild boar predations. But when the MP of the area, Mr Inderjit Singh suggested that an expert panel be formed to discuss how to MANAGE the boar population, it said that it had arrived at its decision after considering the views of experts.
Perhaps NParks would be kind enough as to tell us who these experts they have consulted are? Surely that is not a state secret? From what we can glean from press releases, their so-called experts are two university professors, likely from the botany department. Do these two professors have any experience or qualifications in wildlife management? If not, then on what basis does NParks have to rely on their recommendations?
Wild boars are a part of our natural heritage. They are not vermin like cockroaches or even rats. If NParks is not going to do a proper study of the boar population first like Mr Inderjit Singh suggests, then on what basis is it going to decide how much of the population to cull? How to ensure that the culling does not disrupt the social structure of the herd (killing a nursing mother will end up starving and killing all the piglets for example) and even to ensure that the genetic diversity of the animals are not adversely affected?
These are all important and NECESSARY questions that need to be thought out and addressed before even the first cull takes place. Chemical contraceptives were ruled out as impractical because apparently follow-up injections would be necessary. Is NParks serious? Outside of total extermination, managing the wild boar population will have to be an unavoidable ON-GOING process. Apparently follow-up culling/hunting operations are not impractical!
Capturing and sedating the boars for surgical sterilization was ruled out because it would be "stressful" for them. NParks apparently thinks that hunting and killing them would be less stressful for the boars. Coming from an organisation that thinks spending $2200 for a bicycle is justifiable, perhaps it shouldn't surprise us...anymore.
And now, NParks has declared that "no outsiders" would be allowed for the boar culling operation. This is like saying no outsiders should question its purchasing decisions. We know how well that ended up. We need impartial outside observers to ensure that the cull is done correctly. The operation is NOT about letting someone with a gun going all Rambo like, shooting at anything that moves. We also need to ensure that the boar carcasses do not wind up being sold by NPark employees to restaurants for profit. Perhaps Acres should run a sting operation to ensure that doesn't occur!
On a side note, we can't claim that we have an overpopulation of wild boars if we keep destroying what little green spaces we have left. Take for example the forested patch in Dairy Farm estate which is making way for a condo. Mr Khaw Boon Wan has also threatened to build another 100,000 units of housing if necessary (to save his political ass among other things). You know, if we got rid of a million foreigners, that should free up at least 100,000 units of EXISTING housing!
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