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Fishing Cats (Prionailurus viverrinus)
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Asia Trail
A fishing cat sits on a muddy embankment beside a pool, gently tapping the surface of the water with its paw to imitate the movements of an insect. Lured by the ruse, a fish swims closer; the cat strikes and deftly scoops up its glistening prey.

Fishing cat
Fishing cats are twice as big as domestic cats and are good swimmers. (Jessie Cohen/NZP)

Although this scenario unfolds every day in south and Southeast Asia, people rarely see it, because fishing cats are nocturnal and elusive. But on Asia Trail, you can be front and center when two of these beautiful felines hunt in a glass tank stocked with fish and other swimming snacks.

You'll also learn how National Zoo scientists and their colleagues in Asia are conserving fishing cats and their habitats. In Sri Lanka, for example, they are conducting the first detailed study of fishing cats in the wild. With the data they gather, they will develop a management plan to ensure that fishing cats have space to live among expanding suburbs and urban areas.

In Thailand, Zoo scientists use photographs taken by camera traps to estimate the number of fishing cats remaining in the wild. See for yourself how camera traps work and check out some of the amazing animal photos they've captured at the interactive camera trap exhibit. You might be surprised who the camera has caught!


Get to Know Fishing Cats

  • The IUCN lists fishing cats as vulnerable. To build more roads and create more farmland in Southeast Asia, people drain and pollute the cats' native wetland habitats, and also hunt them for their fur.
  • Fishing cats are about twice the size of the average housecat.
  • Fishing cats can catch fish and frogs from the banks of a stream, but they will also dive into deep water and swim below the surface to catch waterfowl.
  • When swimming, fishing cats may use their tails as rudders.
  • The webbing on fishing cats' front paws only comes partway up each of their toes. They can scoop up fish, frogs, and other prey with their front paws.
  • Zoologists gave the fishing cat the species name viverrinus because it reminded them of the Indian civet cat (Viverra zibetha).
  • Villagers sometimes mistake fishing cats for leopards, and kill them to protect their livestock from depredation.

ZooGoer 35(5) 2006. Copyright 2006 Friends of the National Zoo. All rights reserved.

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