'Nature lover' gets called out for trapping wild bird that preyed on his pet fish

This man calls himself a "nature lover", but his act of trapping a bird was recently called out online.

Taking to Facebook yesterday (Nov 10), Chen Phan Yeeh shared a photo on the Singapore Wildlife Sightings group of a caged bird in his home.

"The heron that has been eyeing and probably feeding on the small fishes in my pond lately," he said, adding that he would release it later.

In a subsequent update an hour later, Chen posted a video of him freeing the bird in a public park.

From the six-second video, it is unclear where the incident took place. 

While he shared that the bird was "released unharmed", several netizens called out Chen for his inhumane act of trapping it.

After Chen shared the video in the comments section, a netizen thanked the man for releasing the wild bird while another said that "at least he didn't harm the animal".

In the comments section, Chen said he is a nature lover who had freed it unharmed near a water body with lots of food.

He also said that he had to catch the bird as it flew into his house and was unable to get out.

AsiaOne has contacted Chen for more information. 

Offence to trap wild animals

However, other netizens pointed out that what he did was illegal.

Under the Wild Animals and Birds Act, it is an offence to intentionally feed, release, trap and kill wild animals.

In March 2020, a Bill was passed to amend the Act which increases the penalties for those who are caught doing so. 

Those who kill, trap, take or keep non-protected wildlife without approval now face a $10,000 fine and/or six months' jail for their first offence, compared with the previous penalty of $1,000.

Repeat offenders face a $20,000 fine and/or 12 months' jail, while those who target protected wildlife face a $50,000 fine and/or two years' jail.

In another recent incident of wild animals being captured, a man picked up an angry snake with just his bare hands.

In a Facebook post shared last month, Matthew Lee said that he managed to catch an equatorial spitting cobra when it appeared at a golf course in Mandai.

He also claimed the NParks authorities that arrived at the scene were "extremely surprised and confused" as to how he managed to catch a wild snake without any equipment.

"They actually said that I should come work for them, that they could use someone like me," he said in the post, with netizens impressed with his capture.

chingshijie@asiaone.com

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