The carcass of a fishing cat has been found beside the Sreepur-Rajabari road in Gazipur.

Local people saw the body beside the road in Lohagachh village, Sreepur, on the morning of Saturday, 19 December.

Going by its markings and colour, local people said it was a leopard, but officials of the forest department's wildlife crime control unit confirmed from photos that it was a fishing cat.

Md Shahidullah Mondal Bakul of Lohagachh village said he saw the animal's body beside the road when he left home for Dhaka in the morning. There were wounds on its face, and it is thought to have died during the night after being hit by a vehicle on the road. After it was found, fear spread among local people that there were leopards in the nearby forest.

Asim Mallick, an inspector with the forest department's wildlife crime control unit, said the photos suggested it was a fishing cat. These are nocturnal animals that catch rats, snakes, frogs, fish and other prey in the forest. The dead animal was about three years old. They usually come out at night to look for food in forests and waterbodies, but they do not come into settlements during the day.

He said the injuries suggested it had been hit by a vehicle and died on the spot. To protect wildlife, vehicles on roads through or near forests should be driven slowly and carefully, and signboards or speed breakers should be put up at points along such roads.

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