'Likely an undercount': Kaziranga records at least 57 fishing cats in first-ever assessment

The first-ever assessment in Assam's Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve has identified at least 57 fishing cats, confirming the rhino-hub as a freshwater stronghold for the globally vulnerable wild feline species.

The study, conducted by tiger cell of Kaziranga along with Tiasa Adhya, a scientist, Fishing Cat Project, assessed the camera-trap images available from past all-India tiger estimation data and found Kaziranga to have the highest population of fishing cats in the Terai floodplain freshwater ecosystems, a low-lying marshy region comprising Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, West Bengal, and the Northeast. Pilibhit Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand, Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in UP, and Bihar's Valmiki Tiger Reserve have a fishing cat population of 7 to 17.

Sundarban Tiger Reserve in West Bengal, however, has the highest population of approximately 385 fishing cats, but it is in estuarine habitats (a mix of freshwater and saltwater).

"Identification of 57 unique individuals across 450+ sq km indicates a healthy, reproducing population widely distributed throughout the tiger reserve. The study, which largely relied on by-catch data, arrived at this number and is likely to be an undercount, as the data is based on camera trap grid size placed for tigers," Kaziranga said on Monday.

Fishing cats in camera traps in Kaziranga

Kaziranga is known for its "Big Five" wildlife species: one-horned rhinos, Royal Bengal tigers, Asian elephants, wild water buffalo, and eastern swamp deer. Kaziranga is the largest habitat for one-horned rhinos (2,613 as per the 2022 Census).

"Our findings position Kaziranga as a vital ark for this wetland specialist in the Brahmaputra floodplains,” said Sonali Ghosh, director of Kaziranga Tiger Reserve.

The Fishing Cat, one of the few felids adapted for aquatic hunting, faces threats from habitat loss and hunting, with disappearances noted in Vietnam and Java. South Asia holds its global core population, tied to lowland river basin wetlands, Ghosh said. Optimal habitats include wet alluvial grasslands, shallow beels, wet meadows, and woodland refugia that aid flood survival.

"The study establishes a baseline for monitoring floodplain dynamics, where flood changes could alter beels and marshes, and the presence of fishing cat in large numbers indicates it to be an ecological sentinel for Kaziranga," said Tiasa Adhya of the Fishing Cat project. “Tracking wetland carnivores like the fishing cat is essential amid climate change and river modifications impacting freshwater biodiversity,” said Ian Harrison, Co-Chair, IUCN SSC Freshwater Conservation Committee.