Happy New Year
to all our supporters and fans
and all the Fishing Cat friends!
News 2016
21 December
Hindustan Times published Amta residents to raise goats to save fishing cats from extinction.
8 December
Sanctuary Asia published Earth Heroes : Tiasa Adhya.
5 December
Mud-on-the-boots Fishing Cat conservationists received a Sanctuary Wildlife Award from the Sanctuary Foundation, India. Joydeb Pradhan, secretary of a local NGO in West Bengal is foreseeing work of Fishing Cat Protection Committees at the proposed Fishing Cat Biodiversity Heritage Site west of Kolkata. He has been granted funding for creating community owned and managed threat reduction programs and to embark on a year long mentoring program with three high schools to create three Fishing Cat stewards for the future.
Our Living Planet – Meet 2016's Sanctuary Wildlife Award winners, the men and women who represent the very best of conservation and Earth-patriotism. Photo credit: Sanctuary Asia.
13 November
India's Endangered published Conservation of Fishing Cats in Eastern Ghats of India.
2 November
Tiasa Adhya: Fishing Cats in modified landscapes: a case study from Dankuni Wetlands, India.
2 September
She the People.tv published Eco-Warriors: Meet Tiasa Adhya.
21 August
This Fishing Cat was caught in a cable trap !
The animal completely recovered as a result of the rescue team working very hard long hours. Published by CP Wild Lanka
11 August
The Times of India published Salt concentration in soil increasing in KWS.
7 August
Tiasa Adhya translated this newspaper article from Bangladesh.
Escaped death from flood but killed by people
A Fishing Cat had taken shelter in a guava orchard to save itself from the flood. But it was beaten to death by locals. This took place in Manickgunj, Shivalay district, Kolabagan bazar. Locals complained that the head of the Biodiversity Department, Mr Shahnawaz Alam, had not come, even after locals informed him of the incident.
The Fishing Cat had taken shelter in the guava orchard of a local, Shahidul Islam. Terror spread through the locale as soon as locals got whiff of the news. Some locals armed with sticks started to search for it. To evade danger the cat hid itself in a neighbour, Chan Miya's house. The locals surrounded the cat here and beat it to death. After this, the cat was hung from a tree in the Kolabagan market area.
Shahnawaz Alam refused to answer any phone calls by reporters. The media then informed the Zilla officials about the incident.
Zilla official Rashida Firdouz informed reporters that killing of wildlife is a punishable offence. And that there was no attempt to rescue the cat by Biodiversity officials even after being informed. The head of Shivalay sub-district (UNO) was informed about the matter and asked to take necessary steps to address the matter.
Much of the Shivalay area is under inundation due to flood.
1 August
Nagendra Mahato is a young Nepali nature guide. While birdwatching in the area of Jagadishpur Reservoir, he sighted this Fishing Cat in the early morning.
19 July
The Hans India published The Race to Destruction about the environmental destruction in Fishing Cat land in Andhra Pradesh, India.
15 July
With Murthy's assistance, Imran Siddiqui filed a public interest litigation urging the court to issue an order to the government to repair the damage while laying a road through the Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary.
Read this article published by The Hindu: Undo damage done to KWS, demand greens for more information.
23 June
Murthy wrote:
Finally, we succeeded in stopping the illegal road laying work in a prime Fishing Cat habitat after weeks of restless working and follow-up with all the key stakeholders involved in this case. My online petition ruffled many feathers and helped in publicizing the issue by attracting the attention of some key players in the political and official set-up. I also alerted a few World Bank officials as the mangrove plantations sponsored by them were in grave danger due to the proposed road.
With the help of my friend and colleague Imran Siddiqui we filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the State High Court and acquired the stay orders yesterday to immediately stop the construction activity in the sanctuary. I helped build a strong case by providing all the evidence in the form of photographs, official communications, my online petition response and local press coverage about the whole issue from the beginning. Now I feel elated, and all the stress that's been piling up for the last one month seems to have gone instantly after I learned about the court verdict.
It's a great victory for the Fishing Cat and what better way to start off my project, in which one of the main objectives is to mitigate direct human-induced threats to the species. And in this case, we succeeded in stopping an illegal habitat encroachment!!
Thank you all for the constant support! FCWG has been an incredible platform for me to voice my concerns about Fishing Cat conservation issues and network with like-minded professionals from across the range countries.
See also this article published by The Times of India: HC stays construction of road in Krishna sanctuary
8 June
Follow Anya Ratnayaka as she tracks Fishing Cats through the urban jungle of Colombo.
6 June
The Times of India published: Illegal road being laid through Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary.
29 May
Petition: Fishing Cat in Peril – Help Save its Wetland Habitat!
Murthy started this petition today and wrote:
In an unfortunate incident, a pucca road is being laid within the prime Fishing Cat habitat near my project site. With a lot of black money involved, the state government is determined to carry out this work at any cost. Although this online petition might not be able to stop it, but certainly helps in publicizing the need to conserve the Fishing Cat and how irreversible damage is being done indiscriminately to its already vanishing wetland habitat. This could hopefully evoke some response for immediate mitigation measures to offset the damage!
Your support will not only facilitate appropriate action from the apex body on this illegal activity but also ensure that proper mitigation measures will also be carried out even if the permission is granted. Please check the link below for more details. I have been spending sleepless nights ever since I learned that politicians have entered the scene and now they are adamant to re-start the road laying work which was stopped for some time due to intervention of the Forest Department. The efforts of the Forest Department to stop the illegal activity is appreciable!
16 May
