Fishing cat
| Fishing Cat[1] | |
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| Species: | P. viverrinus
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| Binomial name | |
| Prionailurus viverrinus (Bennett, 1833)
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| Fishing cat range | |
The fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. In 2008, the IUCN classified the fishing cat as endangered since they are concentrated primarily in wetland habitats, which are increasingly being settled, degraded and converted. Over the last decade, the fishing cat population throughout much of its Asian range declined severely.[2]
Like its closest relative, the leopard cat, the fishing cat lives along rivers, streams and mangrove swamps. It is well adapted to this habitat, being an eager and skilled swimmer.
Distribution and habitat
The range of fishing cats extends from eastern Pakistan through the Terai region of the Himalayan foothills in India and Nepal, into Bangladesh, and in Sri Lanka. There are no confirmed records from Peninsular Malaysia, and Vietnam.[2] The island of Java constitutes the eastern limit of their range, but already in the 1990s they were scarce and apparently restricted to tidal forests with sandy or muddy shores, older mangrove stands, and abandoned mangrove plantation areas with fishponds.[3] In March 2003, a single fishing cat was camera trapped in Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary, northern Cambodia.[4] In January 2008, their presence was confirmed in Botum-Sakor National Park, southwest Cambodia.[5] Populations have also been documented in Thailand.[6] But there are no confirmed records from Laos.[7]
They are strongly associated with wetland, and are typically found in swamps and marshy areas, oxbow lakes, reed beds, tidal creeks and mangrove areas and are more scarce around smaller, fast-moving watercourses. Along watercourses they have been recorded at elevations up to 1,525 m (5,003 ft) in the Indian Himalayas, but most records are from lowland areas. Although fishing cats are widely distributed through a variety of habitat types including both evergreen and tropical dry forest, their occurrence tends to be highly localized.[8]
Ecology and behavior
The solitary living fishing cats are thought to be primarily nocturnal. They are very much at home in the water and can swim long distances, even under water. Females have been reported to range over areas of 4 to 6 km2 (1.5 to 2.3 sq mi), while males range over 16 to 22 km2 (6.2 to 8.5 sq mi). Adults have been observed to make a "chuckling" sound and likely have other calls similar to those of domestic cats.[9]
As the name implies, fish is their main prey. A one-year study of scats in India's Keoladeo National Park found that fish comprised approximately three-quarters of the diet, with the remainder consisting of birds, insects, and small rodents. Molluscs, reptiles, and amphibians are also taken.[10] They hunt along the edges of watercourses, grabbing prey from the water, and sometimes diving in to catch prey further from the banks.[11]
They mark their territory using cheek-rubbing, head rubbing, chin rubbing, neck rubbing and urine-spraying to leave scent marks. They also sharpen their claws and display flehmen.[12]
Reproduction and development
Fishing cats may mate at any time of the year, although most commonly between January and February. The female constructs a den in a secluded area such as a dense thicket of reeds, and gives birth to two to three kittens after a gestation period of 63–70 days. The kittens weigh around 170 g (6.0 oz) at birth, and are able to actively move around by the age of one month. They begin to play in water and to take solid food at about two months, but are not fully weaned for six months. They reach full adult size at around eight and a half months, acquire their adult canine teeth at eleven months, and are sexually mature at fifteen months. They live for up to ten years in captivity.[9]
Threats
Fishing cat are endangered due to their dependence on wetlands, which are increasingly being settled and converted for agricultural use, and also due to human over-exploitation of local fish stocks. It is believed to be extirpated in Afghanistan, it may already be gone from Malaysia and China, and it has become rare throughout its remaining distribution range.[2]
Conservation
Prionailurus viverrinus is included on CITES Appendix II, and protected by national legislation over most of its range. Hunting is prohibited in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand. Hunting regulations apply in Lao PDR. In Bhutan and Vietnam, the species is not protected outside protected areas.[8]
In captivity
Fishing cat captive breeding programmes have been established by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria and the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums. All the fishing cats kept in zoos around the world are listed in the International Studbook of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Local names
In Sri Lanka, the fishing cat is known as Handun Diviya or Kola Diviya,[13] terms that are also used by the local community to refer to the Rusty-spotted Cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus), another little-known small cat in suburban areas of Sri Lanka. As both animals are nocturnal and elusive, it is usually uncertain which species is referred to by either of these terms in any given usage.[14]
In Garhwal Himalaya it is called Chaurya Bagh.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Order Carnivora". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 544. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ a b c d Template:IUCN
- ^ Melisch, R., Asmoro, P. B., Lubis, I. R. and Kusumawardhani, L. (1996) Distribution and status of the Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus rhizophoreus Sody, 1936) in West Java, Indonesia (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae). Faunistische Abhandlungen. Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde Dresden 20 (17): 311–319
- ^ Rainy, H. J., Kong, K. (2010) A fishing cat observation from northern Cambodia. Cat News 52: 8–9.
- ^ Royan, A. (2009) Confirmation of the endangered fishing cat in Botum-Sakor National Park, Cambodia. Cat News 51: 10–11.
- ^ Cutter, P., Cutter, P. (2010) Recent sightings of fishing cats in Thailand. Cat News 51: 12–13.
- ^ Duckworth, J. W., Stones, T., Tizard, R., Watson, S., and Wolstencroft, J. (2010) Does the fishing cat inhabit Laos?. Cat News 52: 4–7.
- ^ a b Nowell, K., Jackson, P. (1996) Fishing Cat Prionailurus viverrinus. In: Wild Cats: status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland.
- ^ a b Sunquist, M., Sunquist, F. (2002). Wild cats of the World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 241–245. ISBN 0-226-77999-8.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Haque, N. M., Vijayan, V. (1993) Food habits of the fishing cat Felis viverrina in Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 90: 498-500.
- ^ Mukherjee, S. (1989) Ecological separation of four sympatric carnivores in Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India. M. Sc. Thesis, Wildlife Institute of India.
- ^ Mellen, J. D. (1993) A Comparative Analysis of Scent-Marking, Social and Reproductive Behavior in 20 Species of Small Cats (Felis). American Zoologist 33 (2): 151–166.
- ^ Animal Info - Fishing Cat (September 2006). Animal Info. Accessed 12 June 2010.
- ^ Fishing and Rusty Spotted Cats in Sri Lanka Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Accessed 12 June 2010.
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