You could say Yap Xinli has an affinity meant for animals – and animal-related jobs. Specifically, wildlife. The 37-year-old is the manager of airside operations planning with Changi Airport Group, where she runs the wildlife hazard management programme in Singapore Changi Airport terminal.
Her team is responsible for keeping the aerodrome – the area from the airport where flight operations take place – free of wildlife. For instance , birds, dogs, felines, monitor lizards, snakes, and even otters plus bats.
They know the layout of the aerodrome thoroughly, from where the spaces are, to lead wildlife out of the aerodrome, to the fence lines that prevent monkeys and horses from straying within.
“A lots of people think I take care of the creatures at the airport, such as the Butterfly Garden (at Terminal 3). Yet I don’t, ” stated Yap.
For about 12 hrs every day, at normal intervals from 6. 30am , her group patrols the aerodrome in their vehicle, looking out for wildlife activity – birds like the home crow, Javan myna and various species of swiftlets and swallows are commonly spotted at the runways.
It could be pretty intense – Changi Airport offers two runways being used, so there are two teams, one for each runway, patrolling exactly the same 4km stretch during the day.