UPDATE
The Bishan otter family's Google Doodle is no longer on the search homepage, but you can still see it here.
August 7
The original Bishan otter family has gone global. Head to Google's search homepage today (August 7) and you'll see an adorable Google Doodle of the smooth-coated otters – just in time for National Day.
If you didn't already know, we're pretty crazy about otters here in Singapore. Locals and tourists alike show up at the animals' favourite hangouts eager to catch them swimming, hanging out, and even engaging in turf wars (yes, there are otter factions now). There's even a dedicated Facebook group called OtterWatch.
It all started when a group of five otters were spotted at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park in 2014. It was rare to catch sight of these critically endangered creatures in Singapore's urban areas then, but efforts to clean up the waterways and conserve their habitats brought the otters' numbers back. Since then, Singapore's otters have even made it to Netflix's Our Planet (narrated by Sir David Attenborough, no less) as poster boys for human-animal coexistence.
National Day's just around the corner, so this is a bit of city pride we can all feel good about. Check out the Google Doodle and head out to the best places for wildlife spotting in Singapore to see some otters (and other amazing animals).
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