The Chilika Lake has 176 fishing cats, according to a census done by the Chilika Development Authority (CDA) in collaboration with the Fishing Cat Project (TFCP). (The Hindu)
Key highlights of fishing cat census
- This is the world’s first population estimation of the fishing cat done outside the protected area network.
- According to the CDA, phase 1 of the estimation was conducted in 2021 in the 115 sq.km marshland.
- Phase 2 was conducted in 2022 in the Parikud side along the coastal islands of Chilika.
- The globally threatened cats are found in wetlands in major South and Southeast Asian river basins starting from the Indus in Pakistan till the Mekong in Vietnam and in Sri Lanka and Java.
- They are found in 10 Asian countries but have stayed undetected in Vietnam and Java since the last decade or so.
About Chilika Lake
- Chilika Lake, the largest brackish water lagoon in Asia and India’s oldest Ramsar Site.
- Chilika has one of the country’s largest extensive marsh-ecosystems, spanning around 100 sq. km.
About fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus)
- The fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) is the only wild cat species in India that is a wetland specialist, and it’s found all around Chilika.
- Fishing cats are mostly found in marshlands fringing the north and north-eastern sections of the lake.
- According to the WWF, 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.
- It is nocturnal and apart from fish also preys on frogs, crustaceans, snakes, birds, and scavenges on carcasses of larger animals.
- The fishing cat is a Schedule I species and deserves conservation measures of the highest order in India, as with the tiger and elephant.
- No person is allowed to hunt any wild animal specified in Schedules I of the Wildlife (PROTECTION) ACT, 1972. However, the Chief Wild Life Warden can permit to kill the animal if he is satisfied that any wild animal specified in Schedule I has become dangerous to human life or is so disabled or diseased as to be beyond recovery.
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