Fishing Cat

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{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Fishing Cat | status = Conservation status: Vulnerable | image = fishingcat02.jpg | image_width = 200px | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Mammalia | ordo = Carnivora | familia = Felidae | genus = Prionailurus | species = P. viverrinus | binomial = Prionailurus viverrinus or Felis viverrina | binomial_authority = (Bennett, 1833) }}

The Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus or Felis viverrina) is a medium-sized cat of Asia. Its fur has an olive-grey colour with dark spots. The face has a distinctly flat-nose appearance. The size is variable: while it is 80 cm (plus 30 cm tail) in India, it is only 65 cm (plus 25 cm) in Indonesia.

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

As the name implies, fish is the main prey of this cat. In addition it hunts for other aquatic animals like frogs or crayfish, as well as terrestrial animals like rodents and birds. Its inter-digital webs on the paw helps the cat gain better traction in muddy environments and water, like many other mammals in semi-aquatic environments. There are two subspecies:

Prionailurus viverrinus viverrinus, India, Southeast Asian mainland, Sumatra
Prionailurus viverrinus risophores, Java, Bali

Captive fishing cats can be seen at 22 different North American Institutions. By December of 2005, there were 72 fishing cats in these institutions, where the public can see them. The largest captive group in North America is found at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York (15 cats).

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