Prionailurus viverrinus
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. It has a deep yellowish-grey fur with black lines and spots. Adults have a head-to-body length of 57 to 78 cm (22 to 31 in), with a 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 in) long tail. Males are larger than females, weighing 8 to 17 kg (18 to 37 lb), while females average 5 to 9 kg (11 to 20 lb). It lives mostly in the vicinity of wetlands, along rivers, streams, oxbow lakes, in swamps and mangroves where it preys mostly on fish. Other prey items include birds, insects, small rodents, molluscs, reptiles including snakes, amphibians and carrion of cattle. The fishing cat is thought to be primarily nocturnal. It is a good swimmer and can swim long distances, even underwater.
The fishing cat has been listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2016, as the global population is thought to have declined by about 30% in the past three fishing cat generations during the period 2010–2015. The destruction of wetlands and killing by local people are the major threats throughout its range.
Felis viverrinus was proposed by Edward Turner Bennett in 1833, who described a cat skin sent from... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minneriya National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Fishing Cat sighting in Minneriya National Park on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 13th most-seen of the 18 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Fishing Cat in Minneriya National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, June and October–November, the lowest months. That is one of Minneriya National Park's driest months, with about 70 mm of rain against 340 mm in November.
Between 4 and 7 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Fishing Cat sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Minneriya National Park, in our data
Minneriya National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Fishing Cat sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Fishing Cat is recorded against all the mammals logged in Minneriya National Park (12 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
