Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance

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    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

     Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance:

    • It is a team of conservationists, researchers and enthusiasts across the world working to achieve a single dream  a world with functioning floodplains and coastal ecosystems that ensure survival of the fishing cat and all species with which it shares a home.

    Source :TH

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