By Tim Binnall
A British expatriate living in Singapore is recovering from a nightmarish attack by an ornery romp of otters that left him with over 20 bite wounds all over his body! According to a local media report, the very strange incident occurred late last month as Graham George Spencer and a friend were out for a walk at around 6:30 in the morning. The normally routine outing to start the day took a terrifying turn when the duo approached the Singapore Botanic Gardens and spotted approximately 20 otters lurking near a path ahead of them. Spencer recalled that the first sign of trouble was when the creatures "went crazy" after a runner dashed past them and then they turned their attention towards him.
Suddenly, the romp of otters swarmed the unfortunate walker, who was understandably surprised to be on the receiving end of their aggression. The creatures took out Spencer's ankles, which led to him falling to the ground, and then they began biting him all over his body. Watching the wild scene unfold before him, his horrified friend screamed at the otters, but this only caused the creatures to stop attacking the downed man for a few seconds and they resumed their attack. Realizing that they needed to escape the situation, Spencer managed to get back on his feet and the pair ran to a visitor center at the park with the angry animals in hot pursuit for a brief period before they gave up the proverbial hunt.
While one might be tempted to find Spencer's plight somewhat amusing, it was no laughing matter to the man on the receiving end of the otter attack. "I actually thought I was going to die," he mused, "they were going to kill me." All told, the waylaid walker's harrowing encounter with the creatures left him with a whopping 26 bite wounds which have necessitated multiple visits to the hospital for treatment as a considerable cost. Oddly enough, aggressive otters were also a concern for wildlife officials in Alaska this past summer following a series of similarly weird attacks. To that end, one can only hope that the creatures have not begun to develop a taste for humans.