Chilika lake has 176 fishing cats

The Chilika Development Authority (CDA) recently informed that there are 176 fishing cats in Odisha’s Chilika Lake.

About the census:

• The Census was conducted in Collaboration with The Fishing Cat Project (TFCP).
• This is the world’s first population estimation of the fishing cat, which has been conducted outside the protected area network.
• Spatially Explicit Capture Recapture (SECR) method was used to analyze the data.
• The census by The Fishing Cat project was conducted in two phases.
• In 2021, for the first phase, surveyors focused on the 115 sq. km marshland in the north and north eastern section of Chilika Lake.
• The second phase of the fishing cat survey conducted in 2022 on the Parikud Side along the coastal part.

About the Fishing Cat:

• The fishing cat is a globally threatened species found in marshlands, mangroves, flooded forests and other wetlands.
• They are found in 10 Asian countries but have remained untraced in Vietnam and Java for more than a decade.
• Wetlands are the favorite habitats of the fishing cat.
• In India, fishing cats are mainly found in the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, on the foothills of the Himalayas along the Ganga and Brahmaputra river valleys and in the Western Ghats.
• West Bengal declared the fishing cat to be its state animal in 2012.
• Authorities in Chilika also named the cat as the lake's ambassador in 2020.
• Protection Status:
• IUCN Red List: Vulnerable. Despite multiple threats, the Fishing Cat was recently downlisted to “Vulnerable” from “Endangered” in the IUCN Red List species assessment.
• CITES: Appendix II
• Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I
• The fishing cat is nocturnal and apart from fish also preys on frogs, crustaceans, snakes, birds, and scavenges on carcasses of larger animals.
  

Fishing Cat range Map:

Importance:

• The fishing cat, a Schedule I species according to the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, generally indicates the health of wetland and coastal ecosystems, which are considered as one of the major safeguards against climate change.
• Fishing cats are the apex predator in coastal areas.
• If they survive, it means the area is climate-resistant.