Fishing cats (Prionailurus viverrinus)

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Native to riverbanks from India through Southeast Asia, these cats love to fish. At Twilight Tours we put live goldfish in the ponds for them to practice their fishing skills. They have partially webbed paws, and a double layer of fur so when they go in the water they don't get wet down to the skin. They don't have full claw sheaths (similar to the cheetah) so their claws are partially visible even when retracted. In the wild they are listed as Near Threatened. Although they have a substantial range in tropical Asia (over 1 million square kilometers), its actual area of occupancy is much smaller as it is strongly associated with wetlands. Water pollution and forest clearance for settlement threaten the species through much of its range. Deforestation rates in tropical Asia's wetlands are quite high, resulting in similar decline among the fishing cat populations.

Fishing cats at EFBC/FCC

  • Casper
    		•  casper Male, born 17 March 2000 at Baton Rouge zoo, arrived here 7 February 2002. Brother of Mieko.More photos.
  • Frisbee
    		•  frisbee Female, born 3 1999. Arrived here from Point Defiance Zoo in Washington in January 2000. Handraised there, she became less friendly at 6 months of age and is totally unhandleable at this time.More Photos - Feb 2001, Hiss, Frisbee
  • Madison
    		•  madison Daughter of Shada and Rocky, born here 13 June 1999. Shada sometimes takes care of her cubs, and sometimes doesn't. With this litter she did for 2 days and then took them on top of her den box, instead of leaving them inside the box. One cub fell off the box at least once, so we decided to pull them. One of the 3 cubs died young, and Nicky died at 2 years. Madison does not like many people, and has had surgery on her front feet to correct a bone abnormality.Photo history at births_1999.
  • Mieko
    		•  mieko Male, born 17 March 2000 at Baton Rouge zoo, arrived here 7 February 2002. Brother of Casper.More photos.
  • MyLai
    		•  mylai Female, arrived here June 28 2003 from Vietnam. Born 21 June 2000; brother Mihn sent to Cincinatti. Daughter of wild caught parents: important new founder for captive fishing cats.More photos.
  • Nemo
    		•  nemo Son of Tamara and Tamil, born here 1 July 2004. Tamara does not take care of her cubs so he is being handraised.Photo history at births_2004.
  • Tamara
    		•  ffc Female, arrived here July 30 2003 from Singapore. Parents wild-caught in Sri Lanka. Paired with Tamil. Important new founder for captive fishing cats.More photos.
  • Tamil
    		•  tamil Male, arrived here July 30 2003 from Singapore. Parents wild-caught in Sri Lanka. Brother of a female sent to Cincinatti Zoo with MyLai's brother. Important new founder for captive fishing cats.More photos.
  • Tori
    		•  tori Daughter of MyLai and Bandit, born here 27 February 2005. MyLai, a first time mother, did not keep the 4 cubs warm in the cold wind so we pulled them, but 3 did not make it.Photo history at births_2005.

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