Fishing cat

Prionailurus viverrinus

A strong swimmer whose survival is inseparable from healthy marshes, mangroves and river edges.

ConservationVulnerableVU

Relative sizeMedium

ActivityNocturnal

LineageLeopard cat

Weight7–16 kg

Body length65–85 cm

Tail length25–30 cm

A cat at the water’s edge

The wetland hunter most people never meet.

A fishing cat does not merely tolerate water. It builds much of its life around it—moving through reed beds, mangroves, marshes, river edges, and flooded landscapes where land and water are always negotiating.

Its name tells only part of the story. Fish are important prey, but fishing cats also take other aquatic animals and terrestrial prey. The deeper distinction is ecological: this is a cat whose future is tied to wetlands, among the planet’s most productive and pressured ecosystems.

Habitat and range

Where healthy wetlands survive, a fishing cat may still be close.

Fishing cats occur patchily across South and Southeast Asia. Current evidence places most of the global population in South Asia, while Southeast Asian populations appear much smaller and more fragmented.

They are strongly associated with wetlands, but they are not confined to untouched wilderness. Records come from mangroves and marshes, agricultural mosaics, aquaculture edges, and even highly altered landscapes. That flexibility creates opportunity—and frequent contact with people.

MangrovesMarshesReed bedsRiver edgesWet grasslands

How it belongs

Built for this particular world.

Built low and strong

Claws ready for mud

Water is part of the hunt

The conservation reality

The cat is vulnerable because the wetland is vulnerable.

The IUCN Red List classifies the fishing cat as Vulnerable. Across its range, pressures accumulate where waterways, food systems, roads, and settlements meet.

Wetland loss and fragmentation
Aquaculture, agriculture, and industrial expansion
Pollution moving through aquatic food webs
Retaliatory killing and fear-based conflict
Road mortality, hunting, and illegal trade

What effective work looks like

Conservation begins with water—and with the people who live beside it.

Effective fishing cat conservation protects wetland function while reducing the everyday conditions that lead to conflict. The most useful work is local, patient, and connected.

Know where cats remain

Field surveys, camera traps, and community reporting close major distribution and population gaps.

Keep wetlands functioning

Protecting and restoring mangroves, marshes, corridors, and natural water flow benefits entire living systems.

Make coexistence practical

Locally designed conflict prevention, rapid response, and accurate information can reduce retaliatory killing.

From hope to participation

A fishing cat is an invitation to see a wetland differently.

Zoo-EV will connect support to credible field research, wetland protection, and community coexistence work. Until a specific partnership is published, the first useful action is to learn the landscape behind the cat and share its story accurately.

Participate in the mission

Scientific sources, review, and image provenance

Scientific review: August 22, 2026. This account will continue to change when stronger evidence or updated specialist assessments become available.

IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group · Fishing cat
Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance · Species overview
Fishing Cat Conservation Strategy
Image: Kalyan Varma · captive · Singapore Night Safari · CC BY-SA