A recent battle between a lone otter and a pack of stray dogs exemplified the wildness of nature.
A video has gone viral on TikTok and Facebook after someone captured footage of an otter being attacked by nine dogs in a canal in Singapore.
Viewed over 2.3 million times on Facebook and over 619,000 times on TikTok, the video lasts 50 seconds and is recorded by an unknown bystander. The otter in the video succeeds quite well at defending itself as the dogs continuously howl.
Finally, after nearly a minute of back-and-forth combat between the nipping dogs and the otter, a passerby off camera begins throwing rocks into the water to scare away the canines. The effort was successful as the dogs dispersed and the video recording concluded.
The otter appeared to come away unscathed.
One TikToker said that the dogs invaded the otter's space. Another user argued that the dogs viewed the otter as the intruder, and not the other way around.
Otters have made a splash in Singapore in recent years, though not all the publicity has been positive.
Some incidents, like a British man alleging that otters bit him 20 times, have made both locals and visitors wary about the seemingly innocuous creatures.
It's not just humans' space being invaded. Otters have also been accused of killing hundreds of koi fish in the region—fish worth upwards of $1.8 million in some instances. Other locals have spent thousands of dollars maintaining koi ponds.
ROADS.sg, which stands for "Respect Others And Drive Safe," encourages courteous and safe driving habits on Singapore's roads. The video of the otter and dogs was posted on its Facebook page, drawing hundreds of comments and thousands of reactions.
One commenter said the video seemed harmless, but it exposed how nature is affecting human space in places like Singapore.
"The otters have used our waterways and infiltrated areas meant for humans, and there are wild dogs moving in packs," one person said. "Both of these are territorial and are capable of harming people, and we need to stop looking at these from a 'hoh they are so cute, we should leave them alone' attitude."
People weren't too kind to whoever recorded the video, either. They said the person behind the camera could have aided the otter before the passerby eventually arrived and interrupted the incident.
One Facebook user even referred to the cameraperson as a "monster."
"When I see this kind of video, first thing first is to slap the video person," a TikToker said.
"That's really disgusting," a Facebook user said. "Someone should have helped the otter. Instead of filming, l would rather have saved its life!"
Others didn't choose one side or another, simply saying it is nature at work.
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