Authorities Take Multi-Pronged Action as Monkey Woes Hit Punggol

NParks Gets Around 200 Reports Relating to Macaques in the Area Over 7 Months

- Shabana Begum Correspondent and Isabelle Liew

The authorities have responded to a spate of cases involving wild monkeys entering flats in Punggol by culling some, sterilising others and conducting exercises to herd the animals back into nature areas.

Northern Punggol, a fairly new residential area and home to the new Singapore Institute of Technology campus, has been a hot spot for the long-tailed macaques for several months.

The area was previously forested, and monkeys are forest fringe creatures that move between forest patches in search of food and territory.

Between Sept 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025, the National Parks Board (NParks) received around 200 reports relating to macaques in Punggol.

Besides sightings, other cases involved intrusions into homes and rummaging of rubbish bins, said its group director of wildlife management How Choon Beng.

"For public safety, the majority of the 50 macaques trapped in the Punggol vicinity (in 2024) were sterilised and released back to Coney Island Park as part of our long-term management effort," Mr How said on May 19, in response to queries from The Straits Times.

"The remaining aggressive macaques that were not suitable for translocation were euthanised humanely." These include intrusive monkeys that show a repeated pattern of returning to housing estates and entering homes for food.

This sheds light on what National Development Minister Desmond Lee said on the matter in a written parliamentary reply in March.

He said most of the 50 monkeys in Punggol that had been trapped were sterilised, while those that showed more aggressive or intrusive behaviour were "removed" in view of public safety.

Mr Lee's statement had prompted the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) and the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore) to conduct an outreach in end-March.

This includes telling Punggol residents what to do if they encounter a troop of monkeys and reminding them to avoid carrying plastic bags.