Taxon name
Prionailurus viverrinus
(Bennett, 1833)
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Prionailurus viverrinus
(Bennett, 1833)
Common name(s)
Fishing Cat, Mechho Biral, Mechho Bagh
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Mammals
Species authority
(Bennett, 1833)
Taxonomic notes and synonyms listed
Placed in Prionailurus according to genetic analysis (Johnson et al. 2006, O'Brien and Johnson 2007). No modern analysis of subspecies is available.
Location and scope
Specific locality or subnational name or regional name
Bangladesh
Scope (of the Assessment)
National
Countries included within the scope of the assessment
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Not_assigned
Conservation Status
Criteria system used
IUCN
(see Assessment details)
Assessment rationale/justification
This species is widely distributed with low population density. Based on its existing threat, it is suspected that more than 50% of its population has been declined during the last two decades. Its Area of Occupancy and habitat quality have been reduced and the process is still continuing. Thus, it has been categorized as Endangered.
Assessment details
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
Mohammed Mostafa Feeroz
Criteria system used
IUCN
Reference for methods given
IUCN (2012) IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1. Second edition. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iv + 32pp; IUCN (2012) Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
URL (link) of redlist assessment or publication
http://iucnredlistbd.org/
Further information
Endemism (according to assessment)
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
It occurs in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Viet Nam (Mukherjee et al. 2010). It is widely distributed throughout the country both in the countryside or homestead woodlands and in all kinds of natural forests and wetlands. At the current time a small population thrives in the countryside when the largest population is still present in the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest with diminishing numbers in other forests (Feeroz 2013, 2014, Feeroz et al. 2011, 2012, Husain 1974, Khan 2008, 2015).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes, in the publication/on website
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
It prefers wetlands, marshes and haor areas. It is also recorded from the rural areas along river system or close to water bodies (Khan 2008) as well as in countryside thickets on banks of wetlands. It is nocturnal, solitary and shy. Usually Fishing Cat is found active at dawn and dusk. It is basically a fish eater but would kill any small animal that it can grab. Often these include poultry, ducks and geese, kids of goat and sheep when this cat lives near human settlements.
History
Endangered in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh 2000).
Publication
IUCN Bangladesh. 2015. Red List of Bangladesh Volume 2: Mammals. IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Bangladesh Country Office, Dhaka, Bangladesh, pp. xvi+232
