No one is better than this cat at slacking off!

The short Spring Festival holiday passed by like a flash, and in the blink of an eye, it was time to go back to work. Although I was at my workstation, I couldn't resist the urge to slack off. At this time, I wished I were a fishing cat, so that I could slack off with a clear conscience!

Come suck the fishing cat | Kalyan Varma

Paddling it works

As the name suggests, the fishing cat is a cat that is very good at catching fish. It is an expert swimmer and has membranes between its hind toes that can be used for paddling.

Paddling Expert | The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden / youtube

Fishing cats have claws adapted for catching slippery fish, and if they spot prey in shallow water, they will even jump in to pounce. Fishing cats will also sneak up on waterfowl by diving and then launch a surprise attack.

Fishing cats live in a variety of wetlands, such as reed ponds in freshwater, mangroves in seawater, and even artificial rice fields and canals.

The mother showed her child how to fish for the first time. However, fishing may still be difficult for the little one | Nature on PBS / youtube

In addition to fish and birds, other animals living near water, such as rodents and even Bengal monitor lizards (Varanus bengalensis), may become prey for fishing cats. Fishing cats sometimes steal poultry or fish from fish ponds.

Fishing cats lose their home

Fishing cats have a wide range of habitats, but they are very fragmented, with small patches here and there. Most wild fishing cats live in South Asia.

In Southeast Asia, the number and distribution area of ​​fishing cats are in serious decline, and fishing cats are therefore considered the most endangered small cat species in the region. In the past 15 years, the wild fishing cat population has decreased by 30%, and if no effective measures are taken, it is likely to decrease by another 30% in the next 15 years.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies fishing cats as vulnerable (VU). "Not happy." | needpix

In Southeast Asia, the main threat to fishing cat populations is hunting; while in South Asia, the main threat to fishing cats is human destruction of the wetlands on which they depend.

In a study conducted in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park in Thailand, 5 of 16 fishing cats observed were killed by poachers. Fishing cats may be killed in retaliation for eating chickens and farmed fish or damaging fishing nets; some people in India and Cambodia eat their meat. Fishing cats have also been found being caught alive and sold as "pets" in Java.

Fishing cats as pets | catinwater / WordPress

In India, where the largest number of fishing cats is found, about half of them live in fragmented protected areas. Freshwater wetlands are often considered "wasteland" and can only "generate value" if they are reclaimed as farmland or used for construction, which deprives fishing cats of their living space. Fishing cats living side by side with humans in fish ponds and fields often come into conflict with humans due to competition for resources, and the outcome of the conflict is unsurprising.

Fishing cat in the mangroves | Srichakra Pranav

It is not "poor mountains and bad waters"

Are wetlands really “wasteland”?

People gradually understood why grasslands and forests should be protected, but it took a long time for humans to recognize the value of wetlands.

The 18th-century naturalist Buffon once regarded swamps as ugly, useless, and disease-spreading land; draining the water from wetlands and reclaiming them for farmland was, in Buffon's eyes, a great achievement of mankind and a manifestation of man's victory over nature.

However, more and more people now know that wetlands can absorb floods, resist wind and waves, store water, and degrade toxic pollutants, so they are likened to the "kidneys of the earth." Compared with these relatively "abstract" benefits, it is easier for the general public to see that wetlands are home to many animals - the first global convention to protect wetlands, the Ramsar Convention signed in 1971, has the main goal of protecting wetland waterfowl.

The Bird Island in Qinghai Lake, Dongting Lake in Hunan, Mai Po in Hong Kong, and the seaside in Yancheng, Jiangsu are all extremely important wetlands. The picture shows Mai Po in Hong Kong | Wpcpey / wikimedia

Wetlands contribute irreplaceably to biodiversity. It has been found that about 271 bird species live in wetlands in China, of which 56 are nationally protected species. Some mangroves and peat swamps that are difficult for humans to reach, unsuitable for logging, and cannot be reclaimed into farmland have escaped human development and become refuges for rare animals precisely because of their "uselessness". For example, the Sundarbans, which spans India and Bangladesh, covers an area of ​​nearly 10,000 square kilometers and is the largest marine mangrove forest in the world. It is not only the home of fishing cats, but also the famous Bengal tiger.

Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans. It takes more than just any piece of land to support a top predator like this | Soumyajit Nandy / wikimedia

How do people and cats coexist?

Fishing cats live in wetlands; in turn, wetlands sometimes survive because of fishing cats. Fishing cats are cats, and people always want to suck cats. Sometimes, this "theorem" brings opportunities to protect wetlands. The Bhagrol Basa ecotourism project in West Bengal, India, is an example.

West Bengal is a state of wetlands formed by rivers that are home to a wide variety of animals, including fishing cats. In Bengali, Bagro Basa means "home of the fishing cats."

The project invites tourists to cruise around the wetland and observe wild fishing cats, and part of the tourism revenue will be used to protect wildlife. The "cat photos" taken by tourists can also be used for research. Staff can identify different fishing cats by their patterns - from this we know that there are 19 fishing cats living in the 30 square kilometers of wetland, and there are mother cats giving birth to babies.

Sri Lankan researchers install camera-triggered infrared cameras to observe fishing cats | Sebastian Kennerknecht / mindenpictures

Cats are a good thing to pet, but fish farmers who live next to cats hate fishing cats because they steal fish from fish ponds. The Bagro Basa project will provide some fish fry as compensation to fish farmers whose interests have been damaged, and also carry out wildlife protection education work in the local area. The operation of the tourism project provides employment opportunities for local people and helps reduce conflicts between people and fishing cats.

Protecting wetlands benefits more than just fishing cats | Jacklee / wikimedia

American writer and ecologist Aldo Leopold once said that in the autumn scenery of the northern forests of the United States, the mass and energy of animals may only account for one millionth, but without the animals, the autumn scenery will become a dead scene.

Fishing cats may be only a tiny part of the wetland, but their existence can help us understand the entire vast and unique wetland ecosystem and the value of our coexistence with it.

Author: Red Queen

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward

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