Fishing cat

The fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. Since 2016, it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Fishing cat populations are threatened by destruction of wetlands and have declined severely over the last decade. The fishing cat lives foremost in the vicinity of wetlands, along rivers, streams, oxbow lakes, in swamps, and mangroves.

Not to be confused with the fisher (animal), a mustelid sometimes called a "fisher cat"; nor the Van cat, a landrace of domestic cat nicknamed the "swimming cat".

Fishing cat
CITES Appendix II (CITES)
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Felinae
Genus: Prionailurus
Species:
P. viverrinus
Binomial name
Prionailurus viverrinus
(Bennett, 1833)
Distribution of the fishing cat as of 2016

The fishing cat is the state animal of West Bengal.

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