Fishing Cat Factfile

Scientific Name : Prionailurus viverrinus

World Distribution

Fishing cats come from India and Southern China, Nepal, Burma and Java.

Habitat

They live in a wide range of different habitats but they prefer forest swamps and marshy areas. They are threatened in many areas by man's destruction of their habitat through draining for farmland, pollution and over-hunting.

Feeding

They do, as their name suggests, eat fish, but they also feed on other small animals such as small mammals, birds, insects and crustaceans. They are even known to take larger prey like deer, sheep and calves (this makes them unpopular with farmers in some areas)
To catch fish , the fishing cat either scoops them out of the water with its paw or dives into the water to grab them.

Breeding

Fishing cats usually live alone. During the mating season, the female attracts the male by making yowling and screeching noises. After a pregnancy of 9-10 weeks she will usually give birth to twins, born blind and helpless, which she nurses for several weeks. They stay with her until they are just under a year old, by which time she has taught them to hunt and fish for themselves.

Other interesting facts

• The fishing cat's spotted coat camouflages it extremely well in the trees or bushes.

• Like all cats, the fishing cat is good at climbing.

• In some parts of the world, fishing cats are hunted because they are believed to prey on human young. It is extremely unlikely that they actually do this.

• Unusually for a cat, its claws do not retract fully, but noone really knows whether there is a good reason for this.
  
  

  Facts and Figures
  Name	fishing cat
  Type of animal	mammal
  Where found	Asia
  Habitat	forests
  Diet	carnivorous
  Average length	80 cm
  Average weight	11 kg
  Average number of young per year	3
  Gestation	63 days
  Maximum lifespan	15
  Note for Teachers

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