Survey shows fishing cat still on the prowl

[geovalin]

Researchers have found evidence the rare Cambodian fishing cat is surviving in the mangroves of the Pream Krasop Wildlife Sanctuary in Koh Kong province. A month-long survey was undertaken this year by the Kla Trey Cambodian Fishing Cat Project, the first of its kind dedicated to conserving what is believed to be one of the most vulnerable small to medium-sized cats in Southeast Asia.

“This is a first glimpse of the fishing cat population in the sanctuary but our preliminary findings are very promising,” project leader Vanessa Herranz Munoz said yesterday.  Fishing cat numbers have plummeted by more than 30 percent in the last 15 years according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, largely because of human activity.

This has included the destruction of the cat’s wetland habitat to make way for shrimp farms, says Ret Thaung, who led a 2015 survey on the cat with the Centre for Biodiversity Conservation. “Asian wetland habitats are rapidly disappearing or being modified by human activity,” he said.  

 

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