KEY POINTS

  • The video was shared on Twitter where people lauded the officers
  • The officers were seen stopping traffic to let the otters pass 
  • Otter population is currently on the rise in Singapore 

An adorable video that surfaced online showed a family of Otters attempting to cross a busy intersection with the help of a kind traffic police officer.

The video that was shared on Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's official Twitter account on March 11 showed the cop halting the traffic at the busy Orchard Road outside Singapore's presidential palace in Istana so that the family of 16 otters safely reaches the other side of the crosswalk, The Times Bureau reported.

In the video, the group of otters is seen scrambling to cross the road. Meanwhile, the traffic light on the road displayed red. This is when the officers come to their rescue. One officer signals the column of cars waiting to move to slow down and stop while another stands in the middle of the road to hold the traffic.

Police officers usually handle the traffic when large convoys leave the palace, Sky News reported. However, the traffic scene this time was a little different as the officers were seen escorting the family of otters for humanitarian reasons.

The heartwarming video drew amazing responses from the internet users praising the officers for coming to the otter family's rescue. "Really it's very amazing. We need to take care when seeing this kind of situation," one user wrote in the comment section. "Very nice It does a great job," said another. "Great Job...," said a third.

The otters in the video reportedly are Lutrogale perspicillata, typically known for their velvety coat. Lutrogale perspicillata is the second most common species of otters in Southeast Asia.

The otter sightings in the urban areas of Singapore are becoming increasingly common, especially after the government launched reforestation and anti-pollution campaigns. The mammals blend well with the human setting and are otherwise harmless except for reports about them encroaching some private ponds for Koi fish, and expensive local fish, traditionally kept as pets.

The cheeky brown creatures tend to adapt quickly to the urban landscape and survive comfortably in Singapore's waterways that have an abundance of marine life for them to feed on.

Otter
An otter swims in a river in the 19 miles exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the abandoned village of Pogonnoe, Belarus, March 13, 2016. Reuters
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