As Thailand’s fishing cats face habitat loss & conflict, experts seek resolution
Pacing paw-to-paw, the fishing cat hisses. About twice the size of a domestic cat, its grey-green eyes fix on the keeper who carries a tub of tilapia on the other side of the fence. The gate of the enclosure at the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) rescue center in central Thailand’s Phetchaburi province pops open, and the keeper enters. The prowling cat switches to a loping canter — moving more like an otter than a wild cat — as it whips a fish from the tub and takes it to a corner to dine in privacy. The muscular nape ripples at its powerful jaws make quick work of its slippery fare. Fishing cats (Prionailurus viverrinus) are superbly adapted to living and hunting in marshes, wetlands and mangroves. Nocturnal hunters, they have an almost unique affinity for water among felines, sporting partially webbed feet, a double-layered coat and ears that seal when submerged. But with these habitats fast disappearing, the species is in trouble. The IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, considers fishing cats vulnerable to extinction. Fewer than 10,000 individuals are thought to remain in the wild across their range spanning South and Southeast Asia. Globally, they face many of the same threats as other wild cat species: habitat loss, persecution, pollution and genetic problems associated with small and fragmented populations.
Carolyn Cowan
