Fishing Cat - Prionailurus viverrinus

One of the park’s lesser known success stories, Port Lympne has been successfully breeding this species for over 20 years. With a reputation for matchmaking even the most stubbornly antisocial characters, it’s no surprise that Port Lympne ranks as one of the world’s most successful breeders of this species.
 
HABITAT: Fishing cats live in and around wetlands – including swamps, marshes, oxbow lakes, and mangroves and can mostly be found in lowland areas. They have a broad distribution throughout Asia but they are mostly restricted to Sri Lanka, the Ganges valley in India, Bangladesh as well as being patchily distributed across most of South-east Asia, Sumatra and Java. It is possible that it has become locally extinct in Pakistan.

CHARACTERISTICS: Fishing cats are often said to be physically adapted to catching fish, but the extent to which this is so should not be exaggerated. While they are strong swimmers and do prey on fish, they do not have webbed paws - contrary to popular belief. They have a stocky body between with short legs and their coat is grey-brown with small dark brown or black spots that run in rows down their back.

BIOLOGY: A nocturnal species, the fishing cat is a strong swimmer, and while fish form a major part of their diet; they will also catch other water-based prey such as crustaceans and frogs. Other prey includes birds, insects and small rodents, and they have been known to scavenge off carcasses. The average litter size is 2 - 3 kittens, born after a gestation period of around 63 days.

CONSERVATION STATUS: Following a recent Red List update, fishing cats were reclassified from Vulnerable to Endangered due to a significant increase in the settlement, degradation and conversion of their wetland habitat in Asia as well as threats to their main food source from overfishing.

Howletts and Port Lympne have housed Fishing Cats since 1983, and the species has bred well at the two parks. We have the largest breeding group in Europe and Port Lympne has one of the most successful captive breeding records for fishing cats in the world.

Fishing Cat's at the park

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