On of our honours students, Marcus Chua, has embarked on a hunt for leopard cats, dead or alive. In the process he has become to the go to guy for feline roadkills and joined the long line of zoologists rushing after reports of carcass sightings, however rare.
He had an interesting episode on 26th August 2008 which is worth relating here:
“I left NUS after class and took a ride from my mom to Eng Neo Ave. Traffic was very slow so crossing to the divider was not a problem. Equipment brought were transparent trash bags, surgical gloves, a measuring tape, camera and torch. The search began around 1915 hrs aided by torch, street and car headlights. Route taken is marked in the map below:”
No carcass of the animal was found.
I ended the search around 2045 hrs. I was making my way towards Clementi exit (to head back to campus) when I was stopped by two police officers in front of a patrol car around 2100 hrs. They asked for my particulars, about my intentions and what I had in my bag (whether I had any weapons with me). Apparently, some motorists alerted the police of my presence along the divider.
Making sure I was fine, they gave me a ride out to Clementi Road with advice that I should not be walking along the expressway and should get a vehicle if I want to pick up road kills in future (!).
It is unfortunate that the carcass could not be located as there is so much that we would be able to get out of it. I will be more careful in future.”
The Biodiversity Crew @ NUS 