The wetlands of West Bengal in jap India are one of many nation’s greatest habitats for the fishing cat, a species weak to extinction. However a big inhabitants of those fish-eating, mid-sized wildcats lives outdoors protected areas, placing them at excessive danger of highway accidents and retaliatory killing, stories contributor Nabarun Guha for Mongabay India.
Indian states typically designate an official “state animal,” and for West Bengal it’s the fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), which could be discovered prowling close to rivers, marshes, lakes and mangroves.
To grasp their distribution outdoors protected areas, researchers not too long ago deployed digicam traps throughout wetland areas of southern West Bengal. They documented the cats at 24 areas, 17 of which weren’t beforehand recognized to harbor fishing cats. “And 60% of those areas are adjoining to human settlements the place fishes are cultivated in ponds for consumption, whereas the remaining 40% are close to business fish cultivation areas referred to as bherry,” examine lead writer Samrat Chakraborty, from the College of Calcutta, advised Guha.
Dwelling close to individuals could be harmful. In a earlier examine, Chakraborty discovered that West Bengal’s fishing cats are sometimes killed in highway accidents. “These incidents have elevated as a result of freeway networks are separating appropriate habitat patches of those cats,” he stated.
Chitrak Pramanik, an animal rescuer, stated at the least 70 fishing cats have died in highway accidents in Howrah close to Kolkata, West Bengal’s capital, within the final three to 4 years.
The fishing cat can also be a sufferer of its title. In Bengali, it’s referred to as baghrol for it’s tiger-like stripes. “Consequently, many individuals affiliate them with tigers or misidentify them as tiger cubs. They begin concentrating on fishing cats, pondering they’re a risk, when truly there isn’t any documented case of fishing cats attacking any grownup or minor human,” Chakraborty stated.
To counter this downside, conservationists and authorities have performed campaigns to rename baghrol to mechobiral, which means fish-eating cat. “Now, I see persons are utilizing the phrase baghrol much less whereas verbally speaking in addition to in social media. The change in title has additionally introduced down the retaliatory killing of fishing cats,” Chakraborty stated.
Even with the title change, the cats stay rivals for fishermen, who generally attempt to kill them, Chakraborty stated. “When fish just isn’t obtainable, these cats enter localities and kill geese and poultry, thus inviting the wrath of their homeowners.”
Consciousness packages are attempting to tell communities concerning the cats’ protected standing in India, the authorized penalties of killing them, and their ecological significance.
A lot of the fishing cat’s wetland habitats lie outdoors protected areas, that are quickly being developed, environmentalist Joydip Kundu advised Guha. “The largest problem for the safety of our state animals is restoring their habitat, which we have to do on a warfare footing.”
This article by Nabarun Guha was first revealed by Mongabay.com on 4 April 2025. Lead Picture: A fishing cat by Kelinahandbasket by way of Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).
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