Cities in Southeast Asia where wildlife is returning

With the fall of tourists in Thailand, some beaches on the Andaman Sea coastlines have seen the largest number of leatherback turtle nests in two decades, according to Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation. The iconic Phang Nga Bay, a tourist hotspot, is now attracting tourists nesting on its beaches – especially now with the lack of tourists and even nest thieves. 

As Singapore's streets are emptier amidst the 'circuit breaker', these furry creatures have been spotted frolicking around empty urban spaces in search of food. A family of seven otters affectionately known as the 'Zouks', for instance, have been photographed near Mustafa Centre, outside Tan Tock Seng Hospital and in a swimming pool of a condo in Newton. 

In March, the internet saw videos and photos of a bunch of starving monkeys take over the streets of Prachuab Khiri Khan. Now, it's a family of langur monkeys and their newborns have been spotted at national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in Thailand, since national parks all over the country have been closed since the end of March.

Here's another one in Singapore while we're all staying home. A rare sighting took place on World Environment Day: a colony of large flying foxes (also known as the Malayan Flying Fox) was seen soaring over the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. While native to Singapore and the region, the large flying fox has been classified under the "Near Threatened" conservation status according to The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The last sighting of this species of flying foxes in Singapore was in 2016. 

Away from land, a herd of 31 dugongs have been sighted off the coast of a Thai island. The dugongs were spotted during an inspection at the Ju Hoi cape in the southern province of Trang, marking one of the biggest clusters of dugongs ever spotted in Thailand. Wildlife is truly returning.