Oh cities our fastest-growing habitat on
earth these vast urban jungles are
rapidly taking over our landscapes as we
as a species grow with over half the
world's population estimated to live in
urban areas by 2050 this of course means
more development but where does this
leave our wildlife well some cities have
ensured that there is space for their
wild creatures places which they can
co-exist alongside us humans and in
doing so have really shown that if you
build it they will come
I'm Hannah stipple and welcome to
Singapore
this really is a place where the saying
if you build it they will come holds
true Singapore is one of the greenest
cities in the world with parks and
gardens taking up 47% of the total land
area so with all this green space we've
come here to the Botanic Gardens to see
what species we can actually find with
over 200 acres of green space
Singapore's Botanic Gardens were
established over a hundred and fifty
years ago much of the islands native
wildlife has suffered from Singapore's
rapid urban development but the gardens
now offer a home to species that once
disappeared no quick quick think it's an
oriental pied hornbill look I think
there might be two come on it is this
definitely terrible up there they all
Yentl pied hornbill is actually
critically endangered in Singapore and
they were once locally extinct but in
1994 a pair came back and started
breathing it's really exciting
I was not expected to see them here
today at all and what they do when they
built their nests the male and female
they'll find a big hole in the tree and
then over time the male brings the
female loads of muds and she blocks up
the entrance of the hole to a tiny
little slip which the male come back and
feed her through whilst she's raising
the chicks and then when the chicks
hatch and they're ready to leave she'll
break open the mud barrier and then they
will go up it's truly truly fascinating
but the gardens haven't just created a
home for rare bird species they also
provide an ideal sanctuary for some
rather large resident reptiles
come on why is he always gone where -
god it could be flip-flops on
exactly
there are two types of monitor lizard in
the garden one being the water and the
other one which this one is this is a
clouded monitor lizard so we go see if
we can take a closer look just like
snakes monitor lizards have long forked
tongues which they used to taste the air
with they have a pair of special organs
in the roof of their mouth that allow
them to find airborne scents when
hunting being very active predators they
are pretty much always on the lookout
for their next meal so this here is a
clouded monitor lizard and he can tell
the difference between the clouded and
the water monitor because you'll usually
see this one on land
it's a terrestrial species and when it's
hunting uses its big long sharp claws to
rummage around for bugs and grubs
due to the leaf litter on the forest
floor the gardens offer a perfect
habitat for hunting and with its special
set of skills dinner is never far away
being roughly just 85 miles north of the
Equator the tropical climate gives
Singapore not only high temperatures but
also intense humidity my lens my lens is
smoking up oh my god watch out the
snakes is well mine's right
you know they're venomous yeah he's got
his beady eye on me but as that he
increases it brings out some of the
gardens most elusive species we've just
found a paradise trees lake also known
as the flying snake and when they move
from tree to tree they kill their body
around 25 degrees depending on which way
the air is flowing to make them more
aerodynamic getting lit you do live from
tree to tree and they're known to eat
bamboo bats and bamboo bats are one of
the smallest bat species in the world
they're around the same size as a
bumblebee and they live in bamboo but
the paradise tree snake will maneuver
its head into the little slits to try
and put a upon them I can't believe we
found one being an island state
Singapore is surrounded by coastal
habitats and due to its rapid
development it had polluted much of its
river network but in recent years there
has been a huge effort to clean up its
waterways which allowed a species that
wasn't seen in Singapore for 30 years to
miraculously turn on so we've just seen
three smooth-coated otters when they
would move outside of the lake and one
of them was eating a collie carp right
in front of them now
otters are pretty rare in Singapore and
they live down by Marina Bay and they
make their way through the canal system
to come here to eat the fish so I run
over there get around 70 otters now
called Singapore home and all those
sightings have been increasing across
the city in Singapore they are still
critically endangered
being sociable animals they will be seen
hunting in small groups using their long
sensitive whiskers and big webbed paws
to catch their prey they are highly
adapted for swimming and with one single
breath can dive under the water for up
to eight minutes
so the smooth-coated otters is a large
species of often found across Southeast
Asia and as the name indicates its fur
is a lot shorter and smoother than other
species and it's usually found in
coastal habitats mangroves and mud glass
or the urban environment is completely
alien to it but it seems to be thriving
here what a sight to see despite living
in the heart of a concrete jungle the
Otters for now seem perfectly at home
it is incredible to think that right in
the middle of this bustling urban
environment that all of these species
are not just able to live but thrive so
you paws go green efforts after the mass
deforestation of the last 200 years now
seem to be paying off this is a
city-state which is a hundred percent
urbanized and in recent decades it's
made a remarkable effort to allow its
wildlife to live right alongside its
people as it's taken a step in the right
direction maybe we could all learn
something from Singapore's relationship
with nature as it is a truly beautiful
and wild urban city
so I hope you've enjoyed your time with
us here in Singapore and do subscribe to
Earth unplugs YouTube channel for more
fascinating wildlife videos but for now
from us here in Singapore we'll see you
later
