World’s first fishing cat census done in Chilika

What is the News?

The World’s First Fishing Cat Census has been conducted at Chilika Lake.

About World’s First Fishing Cat Census

Conducted by: Chilika Development Authority(CDA) in collaboration with The Fishing Cat Project(TFCP).

Significance: This is the world’s first population estimation of the fishing cat, which has been conducted outside the protected area network.

Findings of the Census: The Census has found that Chilika Lake which is Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon has 176 Fishing Cats.

What are Fishing Cats?

Fishing Cats have globally threatened cats that occur in wetlands like marshlands, mangroves and flooded forests in major South and Southeast Asian river basins starting from the Indus in Pakistan to the Mekong in Vietnam and in the island nations of Sri Lanka and Java. 

They are found in 10 Asian countries but have remained undetected in Vietnam and Java since the last decade or so.

Source: The post is based on the article “World’s first fishing cat census done in Chilika” published in The Hindu on 6th June 2022.