Fishing cat: status, range, size and diet
A stocky, partly webbed-footed cat of South and Southeast Asian wetlands that hunts fish by diving, listed as Vulnerable.
Also known as Prionailurus viverrinus, fishing wildcat
At a glance
| Scientific name | Prionailurus viverrinus |
|---|---|
| Group | Medium wild cats |
| Weight | Males about 8-17 kg, females about 5-9 kg |
| Length | Head and body about 57-78 cm, tail 20-30 cm |
| Known for | Wading and diving after fish, helped by partly webbed front paws. |
Status
| IUCN Red List category | Vulnerable |
|---|---|
| Assessed in | 2025 |
Where it lives
| Range | Patchily from southern Pakistan and the Indian subcontinent to Sri Lanka, Myanmar, coastal Thailand and Cambodia |
|---|---|
| Habitat | Dense vegetation beside slow water, including marsh, mangrove, oxbow lakes and tidal creeks |
| Diet | Mostly fish, plus crabs, frogs, birds, rodents and reptiles |
Main threats
- Wetland loss and drainage
- Conversion of mangrove to aquaculture
- Killing by people
- Road deaths
About
The fishing cat is a stocky cat about twice the size of a domestic cat, with short legs, a thick neck and a short tail. The grey-olive coat carries rows of black spots that run together into lines along the head and shoulders. Its front paws are partly webbed, and the claws do not retract fully into their sheaths, which suits a cat that handles slippery prey.
It is a strong swimmer. Fishing cats paddle, wade and even dive to reach their prey, and they have been seen sitting at the water's edge and flicking a paw at fish.
Where it lives and what it eats
Fishing cats live in a scattered series of wetlands across South and Southeast Asia, wherever dense vegetation grows close to slow water. These include the swamps and floodplains of the Himalayan foothills, the Ganges and Brahmaputra delta, the east coast rivers of India, the mangroves of the Sundarbans, parts of Sri Lanka and a few places in coastal Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia. Gaps between occupied sites can exceed 100 km.
Fish make up most of the diet in some areas, around three quarters in one Indian park, and the cat also eats crabs, frogs, birds, rodents and snakes. It hunts along the edge of the water, grabbing prey, and sometimes dives in deeper water to reach it. In ambush it can wait for long periods.
Threats and conservation
The IUCN lists the fishing cat as Vulnerable, in an assessment published in 2025. It depends on wetlands, which are drained for farming, cleared for settlements and polluted, and mangrove has been converted to shrimp and fish ponds. Fishing cats are also killed by people, sometimes after being mistaken for tiger cubs, and they die on roads. In a Thai study, 31 per cent of the radio-collared cats were killed by local people between 2012 and 2015.
Hunting is prohibited in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Bangladesh. Conservation projects work with fishing communities, restore wetlands and mangroves, and survey populations with camera traps. Teaching people to tell the cat apart from young big cats can reduce mistaken killings.
Cats and people
Fishing cats sometimes enter fish ponds and poultry yards, which leads to conflict with local people. Their meat and body parts are consumed in several countries. Some are captured and sold as pets, a trade that is illegal and does not suit the animals. Zoos in Asia, Europe and North America hold fishing cats in breeding programmes, and the species has gained attention as a flagship for the conservation of wetlands.
Profile last reviewed November 7, 2026