On the 28th of January, the Community Engagement portfolio organised a tour to ACRES Singapore. This visit consisted of an educational talk and a subsequent tour of the rehabilitation facilities. Participants were given a talk by the Co-CEO of ACRES about animal welfare and rehabilitation, as well as the illegal wildlife trade in Singapore. The latter is especially relevant here due to Singapore’s status as a maritime transit hub where traffickers use Singapore as a stopover location before sending these critters to overseas buyers.
Fig 1. A sharing session on what ACRES does
After the talk, everyone was given a tour of the animal rehabilitation facilities. The animals that are now recuperating in the centre would have been sold as pets or used as medicine if not rescued from the illegal wildlife trade. Some of them include box tortoises and several bird species. Interestingly, the centre housed an iguana as well!
Fig 2. Participants given a tour around the rehabilitation centre
Overall, it was an educational tour that allowed participants to gain more knowledge about the issues surrounding animal welfare!