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First Camera Trap Record of Fishing Cat Prionailurus viverrinus Bennett, 1833 (Carnivora: Felidae) from a Rural Wetland of Mid-West Bengal, India

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Abstract

Prionailurus viverrinus, a wetland-dependent lesser cat with globally declining population, is suffering from increasing destruction/conversion of wetlands for various anthropogenic use, poaching, retaliatory killing etc. In India, they prefer to thrive in dense emergent vegetation adjoining different wetlands along the east coast and Gangetic plains. However, surveys determining their distribution range were carried out long ago and, due to various threats they have been decimated from many areas where they used to thrive earlier. This demands for a reassessment of their present status across its reported distribution range. Here we report the presence of fishing cats (through camera trap evidence) for the first time from a human-dominated wetland habitat of Murshidabad district, West Bengal, India. Out of all camera-trap images in the present study (N = 39), majority are of fishing cats Prionailurus viverrinus (25 pictures, 64.10%) followed by golden jackal Canis aureus (12 pictures, 30.76%), and jungle cat Felis chaus (two pictures, 5.12%). None of these wild fauna were recorded during day time. Fishing cats and golden jackals were mostly recorded between 21:01–3:00 h and 18:00–21:00 h respectively. Two images of jungle cats were also captured, one each during 21:01–00:00 h and 00:01–3:00 h. Similar studies in other wetlands within the distributional range of fishing cats will collectively validate their present distribution, which might be useful for in-situ conservation of this elusive vulnerable species.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mr. Sanjay Halder for his assistance in field and all respondents who voluntarily participated in the questionnaire surveys. Thanks are also due to Nature Environment and Wildlife Society (NEWS), Kolkata for providing the camera traps. We thankfully acknowledge the infrastructural support provided by the Head of the Department of Zoology (University of Calcutta), Director of Zoological Survey of India and Principal of Shibpur Dinobundhoo Institution (College). We are also grateful to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden of the Directorate of Forests (Govt. of West Bengal) for necessary permissions; and Chairman of the West Bengal Biodiversity Board (Department of Environment, Government of West Bengal) for constant encouragement and financial assistance.

Funding

This work was supported by the West Bengal Biodiversity Board (Department of Environment, Govt. of West Bengal) under research grant [Memo No.: 804/3K (Bio)-2/2017]

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Author notes

  1. Samrat Chakraborty and Souvik Barik have contributed Equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Calcutta, 35, Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700019, India

    Samrat Chakraborty, Souvik Barik, Ranjana Saha, Subhendu Mazumdar & Goutam Kumar Saha

  2. Nature Environment and Wildlife Society, 10, Chowringhee Terrace, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700020, India

    Souvik Barik, Ranjana Saha & Ajanta Dey

  3. Zoological Survey of India, Prani Vigyan Bhawan, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700053, India

    Kaushik Deuti & C. Venkatraman

  4. Shibpur Dinobundhoo Institution (College), 412/1, G.T.Road (South), Shibpur, Howrah, West Bengal, 711102, India

    Subhendu Mazumdar

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  1. Samrat Chakraborty
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The data used in the present manuscript have been collected by us and the research is carried out in the state of West Bengal outside protected areas strictly maintaining the ethical standards and legal requirements of the host country. We obtained necessary permission from the office of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden, Directorate of Forests, Govt. of West Bengal, as well as, got approval from the Chairman, West Bengal Biodiversity Board, Department of Environment, Govt. of West Bengal. The present study was carried out maintaining respects for local beliefs, economic and cultural interests, and rights. All methods were non-intrusive and no animal was harmed during the study.

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Chakraborty, S., Barik, S., Saha, R. et al. First Camera Trap Record of Fishing Cat Prionailurus viverrinus Bennett, 1833 (Carnivora: Felidae) from a Rural Wetland of Mid-West Bengal, India. Proc Zool Soc 73, 343–351 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12595-020-00332-8

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