Its name is mechho biral, in English the fishing cat, and its scientific name is Felis viverrina. But people know it as mechho bagh, the "fishing tiger". It is this "tiger" label that keeps costing the helpless animal its life. Fishing cats mainly live in haor and beel wetlands or forests next to them, and people in the haor region kill them because of the word "tiger" attached to the name. Experts believe that unless the killing of fishing cats is stopped, the animal will one day disappear.

According to the Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Division, a fishing cat usually measures 72 centimetres in head and body with a 29-centimetre tail. It is a large member of the cat family, with a sturdy, thick body, short legs, a long head and a short tail. Dark grey spots and stripes run across its body. Its coat is thick, light brownish grey with clear black spots, and the markings on the body run vertically. The fur on the underside is long and the tail is ringed. There are white spots in front of the ears. The legs and toes are greyish black. It is usually silent and is nocturnal.

It roams alone at night beside wetlands and fish farms to hunt, and it is a very good swimmer. Its diet includes fish, snails and shellfish, and small mammals. It breeds between March and June. It is an endangered animal, found in areas rich in bushes, bamboo groves and wetlands in all regions. Researchers say one of the best ways to keep this beneficial animal alive in nature is to raise awareness among people.

Monirul H Khan, a professor of zoology and wildlife researcher at Jahangirnagar University, said the fishing cat behaves much like the jungle cat but is larger, almost the size of a dog. Fishing cats are seen more or less everywhere in Bangladesh, but mostly in wetland areas, and they hunt mainly at night. Besides fish, frogs and crabs from wetlands, they eat insects and rats, which benefits farmers. They may come into human settlements because of a shortage of food, and that is when people kill them. There is no alternative to awareness if the killing is to stop, and when people become aware, wildlife killing will fall, he said.

According to the Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Division, until about two years ago fishing cats or their kittens rescued from various parts of the haor region were brought and released in the Lawachhara, Satchhari or Barshijora protected forests under the division. This separated the cats from their families. Unable to adapt to the new place, they faced food and habitat shortages, and breeding and population growth were also disrupted.

Fishing cats would also cross various settlements to head back towards haors and bushy wetlands, creating chances of being caught again in human settlements. Stressed and unable to adapt to the environment, they became weak from lack of food and in poor health for long periods. Separated from their families, their natural population growth was hampered.

When fishing cat kittens were caught, attempts were made to raise them on artificial milk, which was difficult and costly. Most kittens without their mother's care could not be saved this way, and the one or two that somehow survived lost their natural traits and lived like domestic animals.

Now, however, rescued fishing cats and their kittens are no longer released in distant protected forests. Instead, after explaining the matter to local people, the animals are released at the place where they were caught.

Researchers argue that, just as the tiger plays a role in protecting the Sundarbans, the fishing cat must be promoted as a flagship species for protecting wetlands. They also say the scientific release method with which the Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Division in Sylhet has succeeded should be spread across the country.

A survey conducted by Dhaka University found that since 2016, the media have reported one conflict between people and fishing cats every 15 days on average. The survey was led by Muntasir Akash, assistant professor in the Department of Zoology at Dhaka University.

The survey looked at where conflicts took place, the nature of those places and where fishing cats were released. It also looked at the time, season and year of each conflict, and recorded the reasons behind each one, the type of retaliatory behaviour by people, the number of fishing cats involved, and the numbers found dead and released.

Conflict reports from 2005 to 2021 were collected. They covered conflicts between people and 564 fishing cats in a total of 361 incidents, including 395 adults and 170 juvenile or young fishing cats. The deaths of 160 fishing cats were reported in these incidents.

The survey found that in about 50 percent of cases, people showed aggressive "attack on sight" and retaliatory behaviour towards fishing cats. According to the research, only 25 percent of conflicts arose because fishing cats ate ducks or chickens. In about 10 percent of cases, fishing cats were hit in road accidents, and the animal died in every one of them.

As for the type of retaliation, chasing and attacking the fishing cat was seen in about 60 percent of cases, while in 20 percent of incidents fishing cats were caught with traps, the survey found.

Assistant professor Muntasir Akash told Jago News that people are mistaking the fishing cat for something else. Because of the stripes on its body, they think it is a tiger or a tiger cub. Their research found that people panic as soon as they see one and want to kill it, and this happens not only with fishing cats but with other wildlife too.

He said publicity campaigns are needed to end the conflict between people and fishing cats. Besides fishing cats, there are jungle cats and other wild animals, and they are never a threat to people. There is nothing to fear from them; they have lived alongside people for ages. The conflict between people and animals is increasing because rural forests are being cleared, he said.

Prof Muntasir Akash said more work is needed on the fishing cat's diet, to see how much fish it eats. In Moulvibazar, they have been seen eating natural food and also taking ducks and chickens from farms, though they rarely go to farms. People kill fishing cats mainly out of fear. The media also play a part: to get a catchy headline, a fishing cat seen somewhere is reported as a tiger, he said.

He said the Wildlife Division takes away rescued fishing cat kittens, which are very small unweaned young. The Forest Department and others involved do not really have the capacity to raise them, which is a difficult job, so a rehabilitation centre is needed. The best option is to leave them at night, in the natural setting where they were found, and the mother will be seen coming to take them away, he said.

He added that releases must be balanced. In Moulvibazar, the release of wild animals at the same place has been reduced, and fishing cats are being released at different places to keep a balance. Every forest has a carrying capacity, and it must be checked whether the place of release can support them. If they are released at the same place again and again, they will exceed the carrying capacity and come back into human settlements, he said.

Md Jahangir Alam, forest officer of the Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Division in Moulvibazar, told Jago News that conflict between people and fishing cats is high, and people are often seen catching fishing cats in various ways. Awareness work is therefore under way, and many cases have also been filed. Whenever they get word, they rescue the animals and release them naturally again. The division has a rescue centre at Jankichhara, where it does what it can to treat injured animals, he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.