From road kill to museum research

Ever wondered what happens to animals which are run over on our roads? Not all the carcasses are disposed of. Some of them find another life as research specimens. LEA WEE reports on road kill and how it contributes to the work of the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research.

Bodies of rare creatures like the leopard cat has been found and sent to the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research. -- CHEW SENG KIM

ANIMALS that have met their tragic fate on the roads are helping to reveal secrets of Singapore's rich wildlife.

Over the years, the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research has become increasingly dependent on creatures killed on the road for its research specimens and public exhibits.

Said research officer N. Sivasothi, 33: 'We no longer shoot animals for research or public display, and with the loss of habitat due to urbanisation, there are fewer animals around. So, road kill has become an important physical record.'

Of the road kill received by the museum, snakes are the most common, followed by frogs, lizards and monkeys.

Once in a while, it gets such rare gems as the white-bellied rat snake found in Old Upper Thomson Road last month and the Malayan bridle snake found in Upper Peirce Service Road in 1991. Neither species had been seen alive here since the 1920s.

And since being built in 1986, the Bukit Timah Expressway, which cuts through the forest linking Bukit Timah Nature Reserve with the Central Catchment area, has become a hot spot for animals attempting to cross it.

Besides getting dead animals found on the road, the museum occasionally receives calls about animals found in offshore waters. In 1999, for instance, a 2.5-m-long dugong was found off the shores of Pulau Ubin.

But Mr Sivasothi believes the specimens that have trickled in over the years are only the tip of the iceberg: 'So far, those who have notified us about these finds are the few 'in the know', like park rangers and nature lovers who can recognise an unusual animal when they see one... Imagine how many other sightings by the layman have gone unreported.'

The best thing to do when a person sees a dead animal that does not look like a cat, dog or rat is to call the Raffles Museum and provide a description. If the animal is small enough, drop it into a plastic bag.

But one has to be quick about making that call. Mr Sivasothi said the museum had lost at least two animals - a pangolin or scaly ant-eater found in Adam Road and a dugong washed up at Changi Beach - to the Ministry of the Environment cleaners.

'They are our competitors. They have been very efficient in keeping our streets and shores clean!'

On a more serious note, he added: 'The museum is the right place to send important finds as it will make them available for documentation and research.'

The museum will preserve the specimen so that it can still be viewed years later when the animal may have become extinct. A specimen can last for centuries if preserved well in alcohol.

Sometimes, the stomach contents are taken out and analysed. It has also been the practice to preserve tissues from the heart, liver and kidney of the dead animal in alcohol for DNA analysis later.

Said Mr Sivasothi: 'This will also be useful for re-introduction programmes.

'For instance, if there are plans to re-introduce the leopard cat to suitable habitats in Singapore or southern Malaysia 50 years later, the DNA of the Singapore species can be compared with those collected elsewhere and animals from the most closely-related populations can be considered for re-introduction.'