Chasing after croaks and trailing after hisses

On a hot, dry weeknight at the Rail Corridor, it did not take too long before Mr Law Ing Sind of the Herpetological Society of Singapore (HSS) zeroed in on an American bullfrog resting in the shallow stream beside the path. The 28-year-old freelance fauna specialist had spotted it in the dense undergrowth and pointed his torch in its direction.

Due to the frog’s small size, it took someone of Mr Law’s experience to spot it among the undergrowth and correctly identify it because of its thumb-size stature.

Just a few steps away from the same spot, Mr Shanyl Ong, 22, programmes officer of the HSS, spotted two more American bullfrogs along the stream.

The frogs are not native to Singapore, but have sometimes been released into the wild accidentally. They were imported to Singapore as part of the aquarium trade.

Getting this up close to herptiles, a term used to refer to reptiles and amphibians, may not appeal to some. The public often perceives them as a nuisance or as threats and assumes the worst about them.

Such attitudes are what the HSS hopes to change by making people aware about the benefits they provide to the biodiversity of Singapore.

The group was started by six herpetology enthusiasts in 2015 and was officially approved and registered as a society in 2019.

Mr Law, one of the co-founders, said: “The six of us realised there was little representation and quite a few like-minded people, so we formed this group so we could just hang out and discuss reptiles and amphibians and look for them together.” Currently, the society has 43 members.

Getting close to nature

In addition to conducting research that supports surveys of herptiles, the society also engages with the public. It hosts guided walks that it publicises on its various social media accounts, and talks for schools and organisations.

A guided walk session typically has about 25 people. HSS guides each lead a small group to explore a nature area for a couple of hours to spot reptiles and amphibians. They will also identify and discuss various other flora and fauna found in the area.

If they are lucky, they may witness mating, territorial displays or predation. For instance, in June 2021, some members of the HSS, while on a walk, witnessed a king cobra eating a python.

During a night walk with The Straits Times, the HSS also came across painted bronzeback snakes curled up in the bushes and trees along the Rail Corridor’s pathway.

Snakes have a vital role in nature. They help to keep the populations of pests, such as rodents, in check.

“In Singapore, we have 77 species of snakes and only about seven of them are highly venomous,” said Mr Law. “They exhibit defensive behaviours only if they feel threatened,” he added.

As the society takes its mission of outreach and education seriously, it carefully considers membership. Those aged 18 and above can join HSS after a multi-step process that involves a potential member being proposed and seconded by current members, followed by a short interview by a panel of existing members.

A king cobra eating a reticulated python in Sungei Buloh in June 2021. PHOTO: LAW INGG THONG

Mr Ong has been part of HSS for three years. The computer science undergraduate at the National University of Singapore was introduced to the society when he was at Raffles Institution. He had reached out to the society to ask for advice on a school project.

He said: “Since joining the society, I’ve learnt so much more about reptiles and amphibians from the other members, and my general understanding and knowledge of Singapore’s biodiversity have also improved.”

For instance, while on a walk in 2023, he observed a Malayan blue coral snake preying on a variable reed snake.

Ongoing outreach efforts

HSS education efforts include hosting information booths at events such as the World Wildlife Day Youth Symposium held at One Punggol in February, and conducting school talks.

One of its ongoing projects is Project Runover, in which roadkill is identified and occasionally passed on to the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, for preservation. It has an online form that the public can use to send in reports of dead herptiles.

“This allows us to better understand areas where better traffic management is required or needed, and which herptiles are more prone to vehicular deaths,” said Mr Ong.

Speaking about the changing landscape of Singapore’s impact on native herptiles, he said: “The clearance of large swathes of Singapore’s freshwater swamp forests has resulted in the disappearance of a few herptile species, such as the Peters’s keelback.”

The snake, which can still be found in Indonesia and Malaysia, was last seen in Singapore before 1961. HSS hopes to reduce and minimise such losses of native biodiversity through conservation efforts.

Those aged 18 and above can join HSS by reaching out to its members at herpsocsg.com