In the dead of a calm, cool night, serenaded by the chirps of crickets, we were on the verge of dozing off. It had almost been 3 hours without any action. Suddenly these magnificent creatures emerged from the darkness of the forest, silent and wary. Being among the world's largest deer species, they were surprisingly light footed, gradually moving closer to the street lights as they fed on the leaves and grass. Finally, our first proper sighting of the wild sambar deer of Singapore. Holding my breath and keeping my movement to the minimum, I snapped away. The deer were aware of our presence, but unbothered since we were sitting down. For 15 mins, we watched and observed them, hardly believing our luck. Then as sudden as they appeared, they disappeared back into the cover of darkness. For a largely urbanized country like Singapore, it is amazing to know that we still have a small population of sambar deer residing in the central catchment area. Read more about my encounter here.