Twice the size of a large housecat, the fishing cat, Pronailurus viverrinus, frequents wetlands where there is plenty of surrounding vegetation such as mangroves and marshes in southeastern Asia. While most cats are built for running with long legs and a long tail, the stocky fishing cat is built more for strong swimming with short, powerful limbs and a rudder-like tail. It also wears a coat of fur designed for an aquatic lifestyle with a dense waterproof inner layer and a protective outer layer of long, coarse hair.

As its name implies, the favored prey of the fishing cat is fish yet it also hunts other aquatic animals such as crustaceans, frogs and waterfowl. Hunting methods include scooping prey out of the water with its slightly webbed paws and catching prey in its jaws while swimming. One particularly skilled technique it uses is to swim underwater and attack unsuspecting ducks from below as they surface. The fishing cat has also been observed to tap the surface of the water lightly as it searches for prey, perhaps to mimic insects and attract fish. In addition, the fishing cat opportunistically takes down terrestrial prey including deer, pigs and rodents.

The primary threat the fishing cat faces is the destruction of its wetland habitats as they are converted to agriculture and aquaculture or polluted by pesticides. A related threat, over-fishing reduces the cat’s prey base, forcing it to seek out other options. These options include raiding poultry pens and fish farm ponds, which then incurs the wrath of the farmers. Poaching for its black-spotted and striped coat as well as its meat also persists.

Where Have All the Fishing Cats Gone?
By definition, small cats are physically small in size and, by their nature, frequently shy and secretive and living in isolated, inaccessible habitats. So it is not surprising that small cats can be difficult to find in the wild. In the absence of field data, scientists sometimes assume that any suitable habitat potentially contains healthy small cat populations. The reality may be quite different when field surveys are finally initiated, as we are finding with fishing cats in Thailand. In 2004, the Fishing Cat SSP and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden funded a field survey by Thai biologists Namfon Boontua and Budsabong Kanchanasaka to locate fishing cats in prime wetland areas in southern Thailand. Four months of camera trapping failed to find any sign of fishing cats despite confirmed presence of numerous other wildlife species. Another field survey is being planned for early 2005, with support provided by the Cincinnati Zoo and other AZA institutions, to assess wetland habitats further south on the Malay Peninsula. This apparent scarcity of Thai fishing cats in the wild provides added emphasis for our companion ex situ project to improve captive breeding and genetic management of the fishing cats housed in the Thai zoos.

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