Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus)

Fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) in Pessac Zoo. Photograph by duloup. Some rights reserved.

Description

Fishing Cats are powerful cats with short legs and a stocky body. The coarse fur is grey brown with pattern of dark spots and stripes. The spots are arranged in rows along the body. There are six to eight dark lines running from above the eyes over the head between the ears and down the back of the neck breaking into bars and spots on the shoulders. The underside is white and spotted, and the tail is ringed. The paws are webbed. The ears are short and round, and back of the ears is black with white marking in the centre. The tail is fairly short (about one third the body length) and has dark rings.

Size

Length 66cm - 85cm. Tail length: 25cm - 28cm. Weight 6kg - 12kg.

Habitat

Fishing cats live in wetland areas, marshes, swamps, dense forest near rivers. Also found in scrub areas, reeds, tidal creeks.

Food

Diet is mainly fish. They also eat some birds, small mammals such as rodents, reptiles, insects, shellfish.

Breeding

The female Fishing Cat gives birth to a litter of one to four kittens (average two) after a gestation period of 63 to 70 days, The kittens weigh about 170g at birth. Their eyes open after 16 days. They are weaned at 4 to 6 months of age, reach adult size about 8 to 9 months and are independent at 10 months.

Range

Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia (Java, Sumatra), Laos, Malaysia (Peninsular), Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam.

Conservation Status

The conservation status in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals is "endangered".

Classification Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Felidae Genus: Prionailurus Species: viverrinus

Relatives in same Genus   Leopard Cat (P. bengalensis)   Iriomote Cat (P. iriomotensis)   Rusty-Spotted Cat (P. rubiginosus)

Fishing Cat Photograph by Cliff. Some rights reserved.

Fishing Cat Photograph by Mike R. Some rights reserved.

Fishing Cat, Tennouji Zoo, Osaka, Japan Photograph by OpenCage. Some rights reserved.