India GO
Mammal · Prionailurus viverrinus
Fishing cat
बाघरोल (baghrol)
IUCN VU · VulnerableProtected under Indian law · I
A stocky, olive-grey wild cat about twice the size of a house cat, which swims and takes fish with its paws.
How to recognise it
Nocturnal and shy; realistically you look for tracks in the mud at a wetland edge, or you join a camera-trap-based walk. Rows of dark spots run along a grey body.
Protection
Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Where to see it
Kolkata
The state animal of West Bengal. One of its strongholds is the East Kolkata Wetlands: the fish ponds east of the city that also treat Kolkata's waste water, which makes it one of the few state animals living on a city's own sewage system.