The Fishing Cat Prionailurus viverrinus (Bennett, 1833) (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) in Shuklaphanta National Park, Nepal

摘要

The Fishing Cat Prionailurus viverrinus is known to occur in the Terai region since at least the late 1920s. Contemporary locality records of the Fishing Cat in this region are widely spaced, and the knowledge about the connectivity between these localities is still deficient. We present the first photographic evidence for the presence of the Fishing Cat in far western Nepal. In spring and winter 2016, we obtained 30 notionally independent events of the Fishing Cat in the floodplain of Shuklaphanta National Park at elevations of 181–221 m. This population unit may be connected to units in Indian protected areas. Further targeted surveys in adjacent wetlands and wildlife corridors are warranted to clarify its range in the Indian and Nepal Terai.