Classroom lesson 路 The fishing cat馃嚙馃嚛 Bangladesh

The fishing cat

A wild cat that swims, dives and pulls fish out of the water

A fishing cat with spotted fur resting on a rock, looking towards the camera

Photo 路 Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

The fishing cat is a medium-sized wild cat that lives in the wetlands of Bangladesh. About twice the size of a house cat, with thick spotted fur and a short tail, it is one of the few cats in the world that loves water - and it is brilliant at fishing.

Tell me more

Most cats hate getting wet. Fishing cats are the opposite. They have slightly webbed front paws, which help them paddle, and a thick, oily coat that keeps the water off their skin. They will happily dive under a river to grab a fish that's swimming past.

Watching a fishing cat hunt is incredible. It crouches on the bank, perfectly still, eyes locked on the water. Sometimes it taps the surface gently with one paw, copying the sound of an insect to make a curious fish swim closer. Then - splash - it scoops the fish out faster than you can blink.

As well as fish, fishing cats eat frogs, crabs, snakes and small birds. They live in mangroves, marshes and along quiet rivers. The Sundarbans and other wetlands of Bangladesh are some of their most important homes anywhere in the world.

Fishing cats are quite rare. They are shy and hard to spot, and many of the wetlands they used to live in have been drained for farming. Scientists in Bangladesh now study them with hidden cameras, and try to teach villagers that fishing cats are friends - they keep snake numbers down.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Most cats hate water. Why might one kind of cat learn to love it?
  2. 02How is the fishing cat's hunting trick - tapping the water - like fishing with a rod?
  3. 03What other animals have you heard of that have webbed feet? Why is that useful?
Try this

Classroom activity

Make a list of all the cats you know about: house cats, lions, tigers, cheetahs, leopards, fishing cats, lynxes. Where does each one live? Which is the biggest, smallest, fastest, sleepiest? Make a class 'cat family tree'.