Cats in farms: ranging behavior of the Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) in a human-dominated landscape.

Abstract

Home range studies provide valuable insights into animal ecology and behavior, informing conservation efforts and management strategies. Although the Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) is a globally threatened habitat specialist species, only a few studies have been conducted on their home range and social organization, especially in response to human influence. In this study, we tracked 11 fishing cats with satellite GPS collars to investigate their home range size and habitat use in and around Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal. The minimum convex polygon (MCP) and autocorrelation-informed kernel density estimation (AKDE) were used to estimate home range sizes of the fishing cats. Altogether 2,303 locations were obtained from 11 collared cats. The average home ranges of fishing cats (n = 8) with 95% MCP and 95% AKDE were 29.12 ± SD 16.89 km² and 39.88 ± 26.16 km², respectively. Home range (95% AKDE) of adult females (21.72 ± SD 16.39 km², n = 4) was significantly smaller compared to males (58.03 ± SD 21.19 km², n = 4). Sex-specific social organization with a single male overlapping with multiple nonoverlapping adult females was consistent with home range behaviors of other carnivores. The highest number of locations of collared fishing cats were in tall grasslands, whereas they highly preferred wetlands. A large part (over one-third) of fishing cat home ranges covers human-dominated areas such as fishponds, agriculture, and settlements encompassing various threats to fishing cats including persecution, road kills, and dog attacks. To ensure long-term survival of these cats amid habitat alteration and human-wildlife conflict, we recommend Fishing Cat conservation activities focusing on raising awareness, especially in human-dominated landscapes.