3 fishing cat cubs handed over to FD

Rescued Fishing Cat. Photo: Collected

Police have rescued three rare fishing cat cubs, locally known as ‘Mecho Biral’, from Changaon Noapara village in Laksham upazila of Bangladesh on Monday and handed over to the forest department.

Mohamamd Nurul Karim, a forest official of Cumilla Forest Department, said Masum Khan, son of Sirajul Islam captured the three fishing cats from his paddy filed on Monday noon.

On information, a team of Laksham Police rescued the three cubs on Monday night and handed these over to the forest officials concerned on Tuesday afternoon, said Nizam Uddin, officer-in-charge of Laksham Police Station.

Nurul Karim said the fishing cat cubs, aged about four months, will be sent to Dulahazara Safari Park in Cox’s Bazar.

The fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. Since 2016, it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Fishing cat populations are threatened by destruction of wetlands and have declined severely over the last decade. This cat lives foremost in the vicinity of wetlands, along rivers, streams, oxbow lakes, in swamps, and mangroves.