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Adhya, T.
Status Survey of Fishing Cats in Howrah and Hooghly, Western Bengal
2011 Full Book
We surveyed for the endangered Fishing cat (_Prionailurus viverrinus_) in human dominated landscapes in two districts, Howrah and Hooghly of West Bengal. Our work also involved the local communities whom we requested to help us collect scats and set up camera traps in their locality. We found evidence of this nocturnal, rare and elusive cat in the marshlands in the region. We surveyed a total of 34 villages from November, 2010 to March, 2011 for direct and indirect signs of Fishing cats. One hundred and ninety seven villagers were interviewed to obtain information on the presence of the species, document incidents of poaching, and sighting. Forty seven scats were collected and sent to the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore for molecular identification. From March 2011, we made use of 10 analogue camera traps. In the entire survey efforts, local people and village youth were involved to foster a sense of responsibility.
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