BHUBANESWAR: The Chilika Development Authority (CDA) has rolled out the first ever census of fishing cats to estimate their population in the lake and step up measures for their conservation. The move comes after CDA designated the fishing cat, a Schedule-1 species, as the ambassador of the lake during the wildlife week last year.
The CDA has collaborated with the Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance (FCCA) and roped in several stakeholders including the local fishing community for the survey. Around 100 camera traps have been deployed along the Chilika shoreline including areas outside the protected zone for the enumeration which will continue for a month.
Sources said CDA has also initiated the process to create a Fishing Cat Conservation Network by involving local stakeholders, college students, researchers, non-government and government organisations. Officials said the decision to carry out the census of fishing cats in the lagoon was taken after the ‘The Fishing Cat Project (TFCP)’ conducted by FCCA and CDA found that the globally endangered feline was present in Chilika, especially in the marshlands on the fringes the brackish water lagoon’s north and north-eastern sections. The study covered an area of 1,070 sq km. The fishing cat is being projected as the face of marshlands to raise the profile of the species as well as the marshland ecosystem of the lake.