Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance

In News –The Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance will start a worldwide month-long campaign in February to raise awareness and garner support across the globe to conserve Fishing Cat.

About Fishing Cat:

• Scientific Name – Prionailurus viverrinus
• The fishing cat is nocturnal and apart from fish also preys on frogs, crustaceans, snakes, birds, and scavenges on carcasses of larger animals.
• It is capable of breeding all year round but in India its peak breeding season is known to be between March and May.
• Characteristics-  An adept swimmer and enters water frequently to prey on fish.

• Distribution -Wetlands are the favorite habitats of the fishing cat.
  • 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.
  • Apart from Sundarbans fishing cats inhabit the Chilika lagoon and surrounding wetlands in Odisha, Coringa and Krishna mangroves in Andhra Pradesh.
  • Fishing cats have a patchy distribution along the Eastern Ghats.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN Status -It is listed as ‘vulnerable’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.
  • The United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) lists the fishing cat on Appendix II in Article IV of CITES:
    •  This governs international trade in this species.

• The species is also classified under the first schedule of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

• Threats –
  • The conservation threats to fishing cats are mainly –
    • Habitat loss [wetland degradation and conversion for aquaculture and other commercial projects].
    •  Sand mining along river banks, agricultural intensification resulting in loss of riverine buffer and conflict with humans in certain areas resulting in targeted hunting and retaliatory killings.
• Efforts –
  •  In 2012, the West Bengal government officially declared the Fishing Cat as the State Animal.
  • The Odisha forest department has started a two-year conservation project for fishing cats in Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara district in june 2020

Source :TH