Boar attack victim had ‘deep’ 10cm cut on left thigh: Eyewitness

SINGAPORE: The man caught in a wild boar attack on Thursday (Oct 19) morning had suffered a deep cut, said a security officer who helped the victim.

“When we arrived, the victim was already lying on the grass patch,” Mr Faizal Idroos, 34, told Channel NewsAsia. “There was a roughly 10cm laceration on his left upper thigh. It looked quite bad and quite deep.”

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said the victim was sent to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital with “cuts and lacerations” on both legs.

Mr Faizal, who has been working as a security officer at Glendale Park condominium for less than a month, said the victim was still “calm and conscious”.

“He was able to wriggle his toes, so I don’t think there were any arteries cut,” he added. “But it was a deep cut.”

Mr Faizal said the victim was lying near a SingPost mailbox a few metres away from the condo’s main entrance on Hillview Avenue, while the wild boar was found at a bus stop around the corner on Hillview Road.

“There were four of us and a few passers-by (at the scene). Two of them were doctors and they were putting on bandages,” he said. “After we settled this, I moved to cordon off the wild boar site.”

Ms Julia Nagler, 36, was heading to the kindergarten with her two-year-old son in a stroller when she saw the wild boar still moving while lying on the ground.

“I was really very scared,” said the homemaker. She said that her concern was intensified because she was with her young child, and they were just a few metres from the animal. 

Ms Nagler, who is from Germany and has been living at nearby Hillview Peak for five months, said she immediately carried her son out of the stroller and crossed the road.

“I’m not sure if that would be the correct thing to do – to walk very fast,” she added with a nervous laugh. “From what I read, the boar was walking uncontrollably, so I don’t know if it was hit by a car before.”

While Ms Nagler said she has never seen wild boars in the area, she wants the authorities to do something about it.

“I don’t know why they are so close to residential areas, but I think that’s just an accident that sometimes happens,” she said.

Residents that Channel NewsAsia spoke to similarly said they have not seen wild boars in their years of living in the area, but are nonetheless concerned about potential attacks.

Engineer Clara Ong, who has lived on Hillview Avenue for 14 years, said she saw the wild boar in the morning when it was already dead.

The 27-year-old is especially worried because she takes casual walks at night. “It will be very dangerous if I see the wild boars,” she aded.

Homemaker Yeji Kim, 33, from South Korea said she is afraid that the animals might attack when she picks her young son up from a nearby school.

However, other residents did not seem too troubled by the attack, calling it a one-off incident.

“It’s a very exceptional case; I believe the boar must have got lost,” said accounts manager Ms Ellen, who only wanted to be known by her first name.

The 60-year-old, who has lived at Hillview Heights for two decades, added that it is “not a worrying thing” as she knows what to do during wild boar encounters. “Just try not to aggravate it and move away.”

Ms Jade Leong, who been a resident of Glendale Park for five years, said she is not too worried because “as long as you don’t attack them, it should be okay”.

The 37-year-old said she seldom walks along the road where the attack occurred, and is “curious as to how the animal got out”.

THICK BUSH BEHIND GLENDALE PARK

Mr Faizal suggested that the wild boars could have come from the jungles in the lush Ministry of Defence compound on Hillview Avenue.

Channel NewsAsia also discovered a roughly 200m stretch of bush behind Glendale Park, which seemed to be the home for some wildlife, including monitor lizards.

Meanwhile, Mr Faizal said he does not think condo management will take steps to warn residents of wild boar sightings yet.

“For now, I don’t think they have because it might be the first time that this has happened,” he added. “These animals have been deprived of their habitats, so they might just come out for food.”