A fishing cat has been caught in a residential area of Sitakunda, Chattogram. When it came into the village at midday on Saturday (28 June), people chased it and it leapt up to the top branches of a jamun tree. From there it jumped to a tree on the bank of the union parishad's pond beside the house.

When villagers chased it again, the fishing cat jumped into the parishad's pond, where it was caught with a net. The incident happened in the Rangipara area of Barabkunda union in the upazila.

Local Jubo Dal leader Lokman Hossain Rakib said the fishing cat suddenly entered their house in the afternoon. He and his nephews Mahmud, Kayed, Shahariar and Naim chased it. It leapt up into the jamun tree beside the house, then jumped down and climbed a tree on the bank of the union parishad pond next to the house.

When they and other villagers chased it there, the fishing cat jumped from the tree into the pond. A net was then cast in the pond and the animal was caught.

Rakib said that after it was caught, they handed it to the range officer in charge of the Botanical Garden and Eco Park so it could be released into the forest.

Md Ala Uddin, the range officer in charge of the Botanical Garden and Eco Park, said the villagers handed over the fishing cat after catching it with a net. But before it could be released, it tore through the net and escaped into the forest inside the park.

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