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Fishing Cat
Zoo Reproduction
Although fishing cats (Prionailurus viverrinus)
breed more readily at zoos than clouded leopards, there
has been no coordinated effort to manage their breeding,
until now. Zoo scientists are collaborating with other
North American and Asian zoos to improve zoo-breeding
prospects for these Asian cats. They are helping to
establish a genetic management plan—the first
for any species in Southeast Asian zoos—that will
carefully match prospective mates and catalog successful
and unsuccessful pairings to ensure a genetically diverse
zoo breeding population. This program will provide a
model for other efforts to breed rare cats in Asian
zoos and elsewhere.
FishingCat.jpg) |
| One
of the National Zoo's fishing cats. (Jessie Cohen/NZP) |
Fishing Cats and Rusty Spotted
Cats in Sri Lanka
Urban sprawl chews up wildlife habitat not only
in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area but also
near large cities and towns worldwide. For example,
Zoo scientists are collaborating with Sri Lankan scientists
on the first detailed study of human encroachment on
fishing cats and rusty spotted cats (Prionailurus
rubiginosus) taking place in Sri Lankan suburbs.
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There, patchworks of remaining habitat appear to be sustaining at least the fishing cat. The researchers are also searching for rusty spotted cats, which are often hard to detect but seem adaptable to a variety of habitats. The scientists want to learn about the wild cats’ behavior, determine what degree of development they can tolerate, increase public awareness of their plight, and draw up a conservation strategy that will protect them far into the future. Camera-trapping will be an important strategy that will capture the nocturnal cats on film, while geographic information systems (GIS) will help draw up a landscape model that targets protection for key habitats.
ZooGoer 32(2) 2003.
Copyright 2003 Friends of the National Zoo.
All rights reserved.
