Fishing Cat

From Southern Asia comes the Fishing Cat. About double the size of a domestic cat—15 pounds for females and 25 pounds for males—these cats actually like water and are strong swimmers.

They live in densely vegetated areas near water, marshes, mangrove swamps, rivers, streams, and tidal creeks. Fishing cats dive into the water to catch the fish, or scoop fish, frogs, and other prey out of the water with their paws. They swim underwater to catch ducks and other aquatic birds. They also eat rodents, snakes, lizards, civets, fawns, wild pigs, and domestic animals such as goats, dogs, calves and poultry.

Fishing cats have grayish fur with black stripes and rows of black spots. Their ears are rounded. The back of the ears are black with a white spot. Fishing cats have a stocky build with medium short legs. Their fur next to the skin is short and dense to keep them dry and warm in the water.

The fishing cat is threatened by the disappearance of its wetlands habitat, pollution and pesticide poisoning, hunting, and loss of food supply by over fishing by humans.

Fun Fishing Cat Facts

- A fishing cat taps the surface of the water to attract fish. They prefer slow moving or static water sources.

- When swimming, a fishing cat uses its short, flattened tail like a rudder.

- Fishing cats are nocturnal.

- There are 2 subspecies of fishing cat.

- A fishing cat’s claws are not fully sheathed and are visible in the retracted position.

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