SINGAPORE — Traffic along Anson Road in the Central Business District briefly came to a standstill during the morning rush hour on Thursday (June 13), after a bevy of otters tried to cross the busy road.

Otter interest group Ottercity published a video on Facebook showing six otters —  three adults and three pups — stuck in the middle of traffic, heading in the direction of a McDonald's outlet.

In the video, a man was seen to be clearing the way for the otters to cross the road. While the otters tried to move forward, traffic along the road eventually forced them to turn back and scurry into some bushes on the pavement.

Ottercity mentioned that the animals and motorists were “kept safe” by members of the public.

The group, which is run by veteran otter watchers, wrote in its post: “We believe (the otters) were disorientated this morning when they surfaced from the canal systems they used to move around (in).”

The post mentioned that otter watchers and personnel from the National Parks Board (NParks) went to the site to assess the situation and tried to locate the family, but there was no further sighting of the otters.

Ottercity said in its post that it also did “an assessment of canals and drains” around the area with the help of national water agency PUB. It found that there were “multiple access points to larger covered canals through the smaller drains”.