Human-fishing cat conflicts and conservation needs of fishing cats in Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh is known as one of the key countries of the fishing cat Prionailurus viverrinus, which is now recognized as a globally endangered species in response to its potentially rapid population declines in the last decade primarily due to habitat loss. We analysed media coverage of two major daily newspapers and interviewed local forest officials and conservationists in order to understand human fishing cat conflicts, the distribution of human-fishing cat conflicts, current management practices and public perceptions. Content analysis of a total of 82 reports on the fishing cat in local and national newspapers revealed 30 confirmed deaths in four years. Other reports included 18 rescue-release cases by the Forest Department of Bangladesh. However, the status of the cats in 38 cases remained undetermined, as there was not enough information in the news reports. A survey of fishing cat habitat inside and outside protected areas throughout Bangladesh is essential. A management plan involving local conservation groups based in villages adjacent to wetlands can help reduce possible human-fishing cat conflicts and notify local wildlife authorities to take necessary conservation actions.

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ISSN 1027-2992
CAT
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N° 62 | SPRING 2015

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CATnews 62 Spring 2015
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original contribution
SAYAM U. CHOWDHURY1, ABIDA R. CHOWDHURY2, SAKIB AHMED2 AND SABIR BIN
MUZAFFAR3
Human-fishing cat conflicts
and conservation needs of
fishing cats in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is known as one of the key countries of the fishing cat Prionailurus vi-
verrinus, which is now recognized as a globally endangered species in response to
its potentially rapid population declines in the last decade primarily due to habitat
loss. We analysed media coverage of two major daily newspapers and interviewed
local forest officials and conservationists in order to understand human-fishing
cat conflicts, the distribution of human-fishing cat conflicts, current management
practices and public perceptions. Content analysis of a total of 82 reports on the
fishing cat in local and national newspapers revealed 30 confirmed deaths in four
years. Other reports included 18 rescue-release cases by the Forest Department of
Bangladesh. However, the status of the cats in 38 cases remained undetermined,
as there was not enough information in the news reports. A survey of fishing cat
habitat inside and outside protected areas throughout Bangladesh is essential. A
management plan involving local conservation groups based in villages adjacent
to wetlands can help reduce possible human-fishing cat conflicts and notify local
wildlife authorities to take necessary conservation actions.
The fishing cat is a globally endangered
felid. It was up-listed from Vulnerable to
Endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2008
in response to the decline of at least 50%
of the wetland habitats and large-scale in-
discriminate killings. If habitat protection
efforts are not strengthened and killings
are not stopped, a future decline of similar
magnitude over the next 18 years is pro-
jected (Mukherjee et al. 2010). Fishing cat
populations are widespread but patchily
distributed throughout Asia owing to their
association with freshwater and coastal
wetlands (Mukherjee et al. 2010). Over 45%
of protected wetlands and 94% of globally
significant wetlands in Southeast Asia are
considered threatened (Dugan 1993) due
to human settlement, draining or clearing
aquatic vegetation for agriculture, depletion
of fish stocks from over-fishing, pollution
and excessive hunting and wood-cutting.
A severe decline in the fishing cat popula-
tion throughout much of its range over the
last decade led to a global population of fe-
wer than 10,000 individuals (Mukherjee et
al. 2010). The species is possibly extinct in
Pakistan and has been extirpated from many
parts of its native range in Bangladesh,
Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia (Java),
Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myan-
mar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet
Nam (Mukherjee et al. 2010). In Bangladesh,
the fishing cat is considered as endange-
red; although widely distributed anywhere
outside city limits preferring wetland-rich
areas, fairly common in the mangroves of
the Sundarbans and occurs in all protected
areas except for Ramsagar National Park
(Siddiqui et al. 2008, Islam et al. 2000).
Given the apparent significance of wetlands
and potential habitat in Bangladesh for this
species, consistent reports on killings, and
to better understand its distribution and
conservation status in the country, we coll-
ected data on fishing cat killings, hunting
incidents, as well as rescue-release cases
through reviews of a variety of media sour-
ces (primarily newspapers) and interviews
with the Forest Department staff and local
conservationists.
Methods
We compiled media reports on the fishing
cat from Bangladesh published in The Dai-
ly Star and Prothom Alo and some local
newspapers between January 2010 and
March 2013. We reviewed archives of the
two major newspapers mentioned above
from the library of North South Universi-
ty, Dhaka. We also performed web-based
searches for fishing cat incidents in other
local newspapers. Locals have often misi-
dentified fishing cats, especially cubs, due
to the possible confusion with other small
carnivores, and as a result incorrect infor-
mation has commonly been published in dai-
ly national newspapers. In order to assess
the reliability of these reports, we verified
photos from each news item and used only
confirmed fishing cat reports towards our
analysis. Additionally, to gather unpublished
information on fishing cats, we interviewed
Forest Department staff and local nature
conservationists of northeast Bangladesh
where there have been frequent reports of
killings, rescue operations and release inci-
dents related to fishing cats. While it is al-
most certain that these additional incidents
of fishing cat killings and rescue attempts
may have occurred during the same period
that we performed our survey, these data
provide an idea of the degree of human-
fishing cat conflicts and their distribution in
Bangladesh.
Results
We collected a total of 82 fishing cat reports
from news articles between January 2010
and March 2013. Collectively, we were un-
able to determine the status of 38 fishing
cats since and we suspect these individuals
were rescued and released, killed, or other-
wise died in captivity. In addition, we found
at least 10 jungle cats Felis chaus reported
dead from all over the country and one le-
opard cat Prionailurus bengalensis reported
trapped from Chauddagram, Comilla of Chit-
tagong division during February 2012. Of all
the media reports, 40.27% were confirmed
deaths, 13.88% were rescued and released
Table 1. Number of fishing cat reports collected from newspapers, together with the
status of the individuals, between January 2010 and March 2013.
Year Deaths Releases Unknown Total
2010 6 1 9 16
2011 6 5 11 22
2012 17 4 13 34
2013 1 4 5 10
Total 30 14 38 82
% 36.6 17.1 46.3

CATnews 62 Spring 2015
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human-fishing cat conflicts
by the Forest Department and the status of
45.83% remained undetermined, as there
was no information on the conditions of the
cats after being captured by locals, or they
were taken into custody by the Bangladesh
Forest Department (Table 1). In these cases
of uncertain conditions, it was mentioned
that the fishing cats were either caught by
the villagers or rescued by the Forest Depart-
ment, however, no further information was
available on whether these cats were later
killed by local people, injured or released by
Bangladesh Forest Department after their
rescue. 90.6% of all fishing cat reports in
Bangladesh were during the dry season bet-
ween November and May, and 9.4% were
during monsoon between July and Septem-
ber (Figs. 1 & 2). Similarly, in West Bengal
out of 27 fishing cat deaths in 2010 and
2011, 70.37% were in dry season (Mukher-
jee et al. 2012). We speculate that fishing
cats are forced to search for prey in more
confined water bodies around human settle-
ments, in fisheries and in lake-like wetlands,
where local people fish during winter, resul-
ting in higher mortality during these months.
Discussion
Human-fishing cat conflicts
In almost all cases of fishing cat mortalities,
the causes of deaths were direct killing,
snaring, captures and subsequent starvation
of the cats, by the local people. We suspect
that direct killing takes place primarily be-
cause locals assume that fishing cats prey on
their livestock, fisheries and poultry. Many
of these cats were probably misidentified to
be tiger cubs or other carnivores, often out of
fear or amusement. Most fishing cat direct
deaths were due to severe beatings by mobs
of villagers, strangulations and captures, and
dead animals are later hung for display (Fig.
3, SOM F1-F3).
Reports on fishing cats varied temporally
over the study period with a higher number
of incidents during winter months, prima-
rily between December and March and no
reports during monsoon, between July and
September.
Fishing cats in Bangladesh are severely
threatened by direct mortality caused by
humans. Fishing cats occur in all the divisi-
ons of Bangladesh (Fig. 4). About 50% of the
total national land comprises wetlands that
include rivers, estuaries, mangrove swamps,
seasonal freshwater marshes (haor), oxbow
lakes (baor), lake-like wetlands (beels), wa-
ter storage reservoirs, fishponds, and other
areas of land with seasonal inundation
(Akonda 1989, Khan et al. 1994). Between
2010 and 2013, only one fishing cat was re-
ported from the dry area of Rangpur division
in the far north of Bangladesh. 17 reports
were from Sylhet division and 14 reports
were from Khulna and Dhaka divisions; these
divisions consist of permanent and seasonal
wetlands. It is probable that the most secure
population of the fishing cat in Bangladesh
occurs in the Sundarbans since there are no
reports of human-fishing cat conflicts from
this protected area.
We suspect that the human-fishing cat
conflicts have primarily occurred due to the
degradation of wetland habitat and human
encroachments. Shrinking habitat and food
shortage has possibly driven these cats to
move into human settlements, which compel
the local community to react and kill fishing
cats. However, during an annual hunting fe-
stival by the Santals, three fishing cats and
three jungle cats were killed on the 24th of
February 2012 in Khoksa upazila, Kushtia by
a group of 15 men of the tribal community.
Santal’s principal home in Bangladesh is in
Rajshahi division but during the hunting fe-
stival some members migrate to different
parts of Bangladesh for a week (possibly
in February) to hunt wildlife (Banglapedia
2006). In several of the fishing cat news
articles, reporters mentioned additional inci-
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Fig. 1. Pooled yearly variation in number of fishing cat reports in the media sorted by
month between January 2010 and March 2013 in Bangladesh.
Fig. 2. Fishing cat photographed at Baikka Beel, Sreemangal March 2011 (Photo S. U.
Chowdhury).

CATnews 62 Spring 2015
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Chowdhury et al.
dences but due to the absence of evidence
we considered these reports inconclusive
and did not include these in our results. For
instance, 12 fishing cats were captured and
released by Bangladesh Forest Department
in 2012 from different villages of Gangni
sub-district of Khula division, and 22 fishing
cats were killed in different sub-districts of
Jhenaidah, of which seven deaths were in
Kotchandpur, five were in Shoilkopa upazila,
four in Kaliganj, three in Horinakunjo, and
three in the town of Jhenaidah.
Rescue, release and unknown status
A total of 13 fishing cats including kittens
were rescued from Moulovibazar district and
all of them were released in Lawachara Na-
tional Park by Bangladesh Forest Department
(T. Khan pers. comm.). This 1,250 ha tropical
semi-evergreen forest may not be the ideal
habitat for fishing cats since they are stron-
gly associated with wetlands (IPAC 2012,
Mukherjee et al. 2010). Translocation of wild
animals back into suitable habitat is a com-
plicated activity requiring considerable plan-
ning (Letty et al. 2000). The reason behind
not releasing the rescued fishing cats in the
wetlands from where they were originally
captured is unclear. We presume that the re-
lease of these cats in potentially unsuitable
habitat by the authorities is due to the lack of
knowledge on the ecology of the fishing cat.
These releases in areas away from capture
sites could result in the death of the released
animals (Letty et al. 2000).
Conservation implications
We observed a notable increase in fishing
cat incidences from 2010 to 2012; this could
also suggest an increase in human-fishing
cat conflicts, jeopardizing the future of the
fishing cat in Bangladesh. Moreover, sin-
ce many incidences are likely to have gone
unnoticed and unreported, the decline in fi-
shing cat numbers due to human-fishing cat
conflict could probably be a lot higher than
our results indicate.
Nearly 45% of the national wetlands of
Bangladesh have been converted and the
remaining ones are undergoing considerable
degradation due to intensifying anthropoge-
nic influences (Islam 2010). Human-fishing
cat conflicts are most likely to be correlated
with habitat loss and an increase in anthro-
pogenic developments; both of which se-
verely threaten the survival of fishing cats
in Bangladesh. Therefore, urgent measures
are needed to protect fishing cats and their
habitat in Bangladesh.
First, we recommend surveys to identify
sizeable populations of fishing cats inside
and outside protected areas throughout
Bangladesh. Second, large-scale education
programs are needed to target local commu-
nities in promoting their knowledge about
the ecology and global significance of the
fishing cat and its wetland habitat.
Third, mechanisms by which villagers living
near wetlands can help reduce the risk of
possible conflicts with fishing cats and ena-
ble villagers to report fishing cat occurrence
to wildlife authorities and local conservatio-
nists to take necessary actions is much nee-
ded. For example, reducing depredation of
poultry by setting up better husbandry prac-
tices or relocating fishing cats to other sites
from conflict areas could be direct communi-
ty-managed conservation interventions.
In addition, incorporating training in wildlife
ecology and management practices, such as
systematic and prompt rescue and release
operations can improve the management of
Fig. 4. Distribution of fishing cat in Bangladesh based on media reports between
January 2010 and March 2013.
Fig. 3. Fishing cats killed by indigenous
hunters in Khoksa upazila, February 2012
(Photo The Daily Star).

CATnews 62 Spring 2015
07
human-fishing cat conflicts
the fishing cat in Bangladesh. For better co-
existence among humans and fishing cats,
conservation authorities such as Bangla-
desh Forest Department need to be proac-
tive in controlling direct threats to fishing
cats such as retaliatory killing. Finally, due
to the dearth of information on the ecology
of the fishing cat (Nowell & Jackson 1996),
Bangladesh’s wetlands can be ideal to con-
duct short and long-term ecological studies
on this species.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Tania Khan and few anonymous
contributors for sharing detailed information on
the fishing cat incidences in Moulovibazar. We
are thankful to M. Abdullah Abu Diyan for creating
the map. We also thank North South University for
permitting access to the library.
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Supporting Online Material SOM Figures F1-F3 are
available at www.catsg.org
1 Department of Geography, University of Cam-
bridge, Downing Place, Cambridge, CB2 3EN, UK
<sayam_uc@yahoo.com>
2 Department of Environmental Science and
Management, North South University, Plot 15,
Block-B, Bashundhara, Dhaka 1229.
3 Department of Biology, UAE University, PO Box
17551, Al Ain, UAE.
ASHWIN NAIDU1,2, MURTHY KANTIMAHANTI3, N. PRADEEP KUMAR1, KYLE THOMPSON1,2,
S. S. SREEDHAR4 AND APPA RAO5
Recent records of fishing cat
and its conservation in coastal
South India
In coastal South India, the first published records of confirmed evidence-based ob-
servations of fishing cats Prionailurus viverrinus were in 2006, and then again in 2012
and 2014, all from the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary in the state of Andhra Pradesh. With
the use of recent local news articles, interviews with local people, field tracking,
and camera-trap surveys outside protected areas, we recorded fishing cats in seve-
ral more locations along the coastline of Andhra Pradesh from November 2013 until
August 2014. We present our findings through an online, interactive map and promote
the need for data sharing on fishing cats. Based on the reports and our preliminary
findings, we surmise that the Krishna and Coringa Wildlife Sanctuaries and proximal
mangroves probably hold the southernmost, sizeable populations of fishing cats in
India. We also provide details on needed community-based measures for the long-
term conservation of fishing cats in this region.
The fishing cat occurs in fragmented popu-
lations throughout its range in South and
Southeast Asia, and has been globally listed
as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since
2008. Wetlands throughout the known range
of the fishing cat face threats such as ha-
bitat degradation, pollution, and significant
reductions in area due to aquaculture and
agriculture (Mukherjee et al. 2010). Additi-
onally, fishing cats face direct threats from
humans due to retaliatory killing against live-
stock depredation (e.g. Cutter 2009, Adhya
2011). In India, it has been known that fishing
cats mainly occur in the mangrove forests of
the Sundarbans, and sparsely in wetlands
along the Ganga and the Brahmaputra River
tributaries. They also occur around other
well-known wetlands such as the Keoladeo
National Park in northwestern India and the
Chilika Lake in Orissa (Acharjyo & Misra
1974, Mukherjee et al. 2012, Aniruddha 2014,
see also: www.fishing-cat.wild-cat.org/). The
fishing cat is listed as a Schedule I species
in the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
On the east coast of South India, only a few
intact small populations of fishing cats are
known to occur, supported by a few recent re-
cords (Kolipaka 2006, Mukherjee et al. 2012,
Sankar 2014), and these populations are sub-
ject to severe threats due to habitat loss by
aquaculture, persecution and poaching by
humans for their meat (based on interviews
with local communities by M. Kantimahanti,
P. Sathiyaselvam, and A. Rao, pers. comm.).
A recent survey effort presented a case for
the potential extirpation of fishing cats on the
west coast of South India (Janardhanan et
al. 2014). Given the endangerment of fishing
cats, it is imperative that surveys are imple-
mented to document their occurrence throug-