Exotic Species in Singapore

Singapore, has many ‘illegal immigrants’ in our ecosystem as well. Back in the day, there were not as many invasive species as there are today. But as Singapore became famous as a popular trading port, more and more people came to Singapore with exotic animals and plants, and the number of invasive species has been steadily rising since then.

Attached below is a list of invasive animal species in Singapore, compiled by Nparks in 2009:

https://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/docs/redbook/List-of-alien-species-in-Singapore-2009May.pdf

From the list we can see that some birds that are frequently seen, such as the house sparrow and rock pigeon, which are abundant in Singapore today. Although they are not native to Singapore, they have grown in numbers and are often seen everywhere on the island. They can pose certain threats, especially to the native birds in Singapore. More of the threats will be discussed in later under the impact of invasive species!

Rock Pigeon:

rock pigeon

Image from: commons.wikimedia.org

House Sparrow:

house_sparrow_1

Image from: celebrateurbanbirds.org

Other introduced species include the American Bullfrog, which is initially introduced as it is a prized as a delicacy for it’s legs.

Bullfrog

Image from: www.aqua.org