Fishing Cat

Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary

It is a wildlife sanctuary located in Andhra Pradesh.
It falls in Krishna and Guntur districts.
With an area of 194.8 km, it lies between the Bay of Bengal and the Krishna river.
It is one of the rarest eco-regions in the world because it harbours vast tracts of pristine mangrove forest.
In 1998, it was declared as wildlife sanctuary and since then no survey on the fauna had been carried out.
In 2014-16, a pilot project was carried out in which 15 fishing cats were recorded.
Population of fishing cat has increased in KWS due to the conservation of the mangroves.
As per the Forest Report 2015, there has been a net increase of 17 sq. km. of mangrove forest cover in Krishna district since 2013.

Status Survey

To have an authentic data on presence of the wildlife is the need of an hour to prepare conservation strategies.
Thus, a six-month status survey is being carried out by installing camera traps in the most strategic 20 wildlife grids.
The survey will proceed by carrying out Fishing Cat census.
It also includes geo-tagging of the wildlife, particularly the fishing cat.

Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus)

It is a feline with a powerful build and stocky legs.
It is about twice the size of a typical house cat and is nocturnal in nature.
It is an adept swimmer and enters water frequently to prey on fish.
Apart from fish, it also preys on frogs, crustaceans, snakes, birds and scavenges on carcasses of larger animals.

Habitat

Wetlands are the favourite habitats of the fishing cats.
In India, fishing cats are mainly found in the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, on the foothills of the Himalayas along the Ganga and Brahmaputra river valleys and in the Western Ghats.
It is a state animal of West Bengal.

Threats

Status

On IUCN red list, it is classified as ‘Vulnerable’.
On Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) lists, it is placed in Appendix II part of Article IV.
In India,it is included in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and thereby protected from hunting.

Section : Environment & Ecology