Bull missing from Lim Chu Kang farm yet to be found, owner insists it didn’t escape

SINGAPORE — Almost 24 hours after it was first reported to have escaped from a dairy farm in Lim Chu Kang, a two-year-old bull named Ganesha has yet to be found.

However, Ganesha’s owner, who wanted to be known only as Mr Manikandan, believes that the animal is somewhere within his farm.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday (April 10) at the entrance of Viknesh Dairy Farm, which he owns, he said: “(Ganesha) did not escape… Escaping means going outside (to the) road, go Jalan Besar, go to other places.”

The black and white animal’s disappearance was first announced to the public by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) in a Facebook post at about 10.30pm on Tuesday.

While the agency did not specify in its post which farm the four-legged creature had supposedly escaped from, TODAY witnessed several staff from the SFA, as well as the National Parks Board (NParks), at Mr Manikandan’s farm on Wednesday morning.

When asked, Mr Manikandan confirmed that the bull was from his farm, having denied it when TODAY asked him on Tuesday night.

He said Ganesha had likely pushed its way through its enclosure and wandered off to some other part of his seven-hectare property that was covered in dense vegetation.

Asked if he would be joining the search for Ganesha, Mr Manikandan said: “I don’t want to go… I know my cow will come back.”

He added that even though Ganesha “did not escape” from the farm, he was required to report to the authorities any incident that happened on his property.

A team of at least 10 men from both the SFA and NParks were seen fanned out across Mr Manikandan’s property — which is approximately the size of two-and-a-half football fields — roaming through the tall grass adjacent to the cow shed as they looked for Ganesha.

TODAY understands that the search, which was led by the SFA since it involves a farm animal, started at around 9am.

More were seen entering the property, which is home to about 36 cows and several goats, to help with the search over the four hours that TODAY was there.

Explaining why there were bulls on a dairy farm, Mr Manikandan said the calves are often used for religious ceremonies and housewarmings.

As they get older, they are later used for breeding purposes, he said.

When TODAY left the farm at around 2pm, there were still no signs that the young bull had been located.

SFA said in a statement on Wednesday at about 8.45pm that the search is ongoing. It added that there is a possibility that the bull has ventured out of the farm’s premises as there was a break in the farm’s fencing.

Members of the public are advised by the agency not to approach or provoke the bull if they see it.

Instead, they should report the sighting to the Animal Response Centre at 1800 476 1600.