An early morning stroll in the Singapore Botanic Gardens turned surreal and nightmarish for one man last month when he was attacked by a pack of smooth-coated otters in an incident that left him with 26 wounds and needing stitches.

I actually thought I was going to die they were going to kill me, Graham George Spencer, a British man in his 60s who lives in Singapore, told The Straits Times .

In the wake of the Nov. 30, incident, local otter enthusiasts have stressed that otter attacks are rare and typically only occur when the animals feel threatened.