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Fishing Cat - Prionailurus viverrinus
Topic Started: Jan 7 2012, 08:09 PM (3,820 Views)
Taipan
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Fishing Cat - Prionailurus viverrinus

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Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Prionailurus
Species: P. viverrinus

The Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) is a medium-sized cat whose disjunct global range extends from eastern Pakistan through portions of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, throughout Bangladesh and Mainland Southeast Asia to Sumatra and Java.

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Physical Description
Its fur has an olive-grey color and dark spots roughly arranged in longitudinal stripes. The face has a distinctly flat-nosed appearance. The size is variable; while in India it is 80 cm (32 in) plus 30 cm (12 in) tail, in Indonesia, it is only 65 cm (26 in) plus 25 cm (10 in) tail. Indian individuals usually range up to 11.7 kg (26 lbs), while in Indonesia common weights are approximately 6 kg (13 lbs). They are stocky of build with medium short legs, and a short muscular tail of one half to one third of their head and body length.

Habitat
Like its closest relative, the Leopard Cat, the Fishing Cat lives along rivers, brooks and mangrove swamps. It is perhaps better adapted to this habitat, since it swims often and skillfully.

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Diet
As its name implies, the fishing cat predominantly preys on fish (6). Largely active at night, fishing cats are good swimmers and have been observed diving for fish, as well as scooping them out of the water with their paws. These cats will also prey on frogs, crustaceans, snakes, birds, calves, goats, and dogs, and will scavenge on carcasses of larger animals.

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Reproduction
Although capable of breeding all year round, birth peaks have been noted in March and May in north-eastern India. One to four kittens are born after a gestation period of 63 days. Young suckle until they are six months old and reach independence at ten months. In captivity, males have been recorded to aid in the rearing of young (5). Fishing cats live an average of 12 years, but have been known to live more than 15 years in captivity.

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Conservation
The Fishing Cat is endangered due to its dependence on wetlands, which are increasingly being settled and converted for agriculture, and also due to human overexploitation of local fish stocks. It is believed extinct in Afghanistan, may already be gone from Malaysia and China, and has become rare throughout its remaining distribution

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Gato Gordo
Heterotrophic Organism
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These are photographs of a captive tamed fishing cat in Russia. The cat appears next a normal sized adult domestic tom. Notice how the head and paws of the fishing cat are so much massive than those of the domestic cat. It is a really impressive feline.

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