SINGAPORE: Pest control companies may fall short when it comes to proper handling of wildlife, an industry association acknowledged after incidents involving claims of mishandling and criticism from the public.
A similar incident made headlines in January last year after a pest control firm was criticised for the way it handled a "NParks engages animal management companies to assist in handling these cases," said Dr Benjamin Lee, director of wildlife management research at NParks.For such cases, Mr Kalai said people should call ACRES or NParks and not pest control companies, noting a public perception of reptiles as"undesirable" pests.
"Staff are provided the necessary equipment, as advised by the professionals or regulatory bodies," he added."When handling the subject of the call, the pest management professionals do the necessary as taught." "All animal management companies and non-governmental organisations are invited to attend these upcoming training courses if they are dealing with wildlife," Dr Lee said.While ACRES said it welcomes training and education to improve the situation, having pest control officers handle wildlife"goes against the whole concept of having a biophilic city, because public will view wildlife as pests".
"Those two elements cannot fulfil the need to handle protected wild animals," he stated."Clients and agencies like town councils should not push their pest control companies to handle wildlife too."One pest company told CNA it refers calls involving wildlife to ACRES, even though its website indicates that its services cover snakes.