Fishing cat: Difference between revisions
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[[Category:Prionailurus]] |
[[Category:Prionailurus]] |
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[[Category:Animals described in 1833]] |
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[[Category:Fauna of Iran|Cat, Fishing]] |
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[[Category:Fauna of Pakistan|Cat, Fishing]] |
[[Category:Fauna of Pakistan|Cat, Fishing]] |
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[[Category:Mammals of Sri Lanka|Cat, Fishing]] |
[[Category:Mammals of Sri Lanka|Cat, Fishing]] |
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Revision as of 04:27, 20 August 2011
| Fishing Cat[1] | |
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| Scientific classification | |
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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.
Characteristics
Fishing cats have a stocky, muscular, build with medium to short legs, and a short tail of one half to one third the length of the rest of the animal. The face is elongated with a distinctly flat nose and ears set far back on the head. The toes are webbed, with claws that do not fully retract into their sheaths. Their fur is olive-grey with dark spots arranged in horizontal streaks running along the length of the body. The underside is white, and the back of the ears are black with central white spots. There are a pair of dark stripes around the throat, and a number of black rings on the tail.[4]
An adult fishing cat is about twice the size of a domestic cat, with a head and body length that typically ranges from 57 to 78 cm (22 to 31 in), and a 20 to 30 cm (7.9 to 11.8 in) long tail. A few much larger individuals have been reported, of up to 115 cm (45 in) in head-body length. Adult fishing cats weigh from 5 to 16 kilograms (11 to 35 lb).[4]
Inter-digital webs on its paws help the cat gain better traction in muddy environments and water, like other mammals living in semi-aquatic environments.
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.[5]
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.[6]
Ecology and behavior
Fishing cats are solitary and primarily nocturnal. Like other small cats, they defend their territory from neighbours, using urine-spraying and cheek-rubbing to leave scent marks that define their home range. Like many other felids, Fishing Cats also scratch trees, which serves not only to mark territory, but also maintain the claws.[7] 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.[4]
As the name implies, fish is their main prey. They hunt along the edges of watercourses, grabbing prey from the water, and sometimes diving in to catch prey further from the banks. They also hunt other aquatic animals such as frogs, waterfowl, and crayfish, as well as terrestrial animals such as rodents, birds, snakes, and even chital fawns.[4]
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.[4]
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.[6]
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,[8] 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.[9]
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
- ^ Pocock, R.I. (1939) The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Mammalia. – Volume 1. Taylor and Francis, Ltd., London. Pp 259–264
- ^ a b c d e 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) - ^ 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
- ^ 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.
- ^ Turner, Dennis C. (2000). The domestic cat: the biology of its behaviour. Cambridge University Press. p. 85. ISBN 9780521636483.
- ^ 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.
External links
