Starting with Punggol, The Straits Times looks at how a city in nature can co-exist with wildlife.

Synopsis: Every first and third Tuesday of the month, The Straits Times analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.

SINGAPORE - In recent months, a globally endangered monkey has unsettled Singapore’s youngest housing estate Punggol, with dozens of reports made against long-tailed macaques for entering human homes.

In turn, the authorities have responded to the wild monkeys, which are not considered threatened in the Republic, with an arsenal of measures that range from sterilisation to pelting them with water gel guns, a move that made headlines in August.

These solutions, however, are just a matter of playing “catch up” with a situation that could have been anticipated as the northern neighbourhood was once forested land, wildlife rescue veteran Kalaivanan Balakrishnan told The Straits Times during a podcast recording published on Sept 3.

The chief executive of the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) said: “In the case of Punggol, we should have known at least a decade ago, when the developments were happening, that one day, this will happen because back then, there were already macaques there.”

Following ST’s award-winning Green Trails podcast, co-hosts Ang Qing and Shabana Begum return to discuss human-wildlife coexistence in Singapore with Mr Kalaivanan and Ms Jasvic Lye, campaign manager of Our Wild Neighbours, an outreach initiative.

Have a listen to this new episode of Green Pulse to find out more about how solutions to manage urban wildlife – and people’s acceptance of the animals – can be improved.

This episode was recorded and filmed in front of a live audience at The Fashion Pulpit in Jalan Besar as part of the ST Podcast Live! Sessions celebrating 180 years of The Straits Times.