Several fishing cats that had been trapped from Howrah water bodies and the wetlands at Banshipota near Dankuni have been released elsewhere after fishermen and villagers complained to foresters that they were depleting their stock of fish.
A group of conservationists, however, have complained and written letters to the chief wildlife warden of Bengal that the relocation was taking the fishing cats away from their natural habitat through human intervention.
At least three fishing cats had been captured using baited cages by the state forest department after they received several complaints from fisherfolk and villagers who live in villages bordering these water bodies.
The Banshipota Wetlands complex in Dankuni is a marshland interspersed with continuous patches of reed beds and vegetation. It is located around 20km north of Santragachhi and has a population of fishing cats that are often spotted by residents of the area.
Despite being the state animal of Bengal, fishing cats are often subject to brutal beatings and killed because of their resemblance to big cats. Many also kill them because their shrinking habitats and prey base force them to stray into human settlements and feed on livestock and fish that are reared for profit.
Tiasa Adhya, a member of Human and Environment Alliance League that works towards the conservation of fishing cats, said she wrote to the chief wildlife warden of Bengal, Debal Ray, notifying him of the capture and relocation and seeking his intervention in this “unnatural and unnecessary relocation of animals through human intervention”.
“I had sent him a mail as this cannot be a proper way to solve a man-animal crisis. It is understandable that some people might complain regarding fishing cats but the forest department should be careful and properly verify these allegations,” Adhya said.
Adhya added: “Moreover, this is a setback in conservation efforts as the animals might find themselves in an alien space and might not survive or get killed.”
Ray has replied to the letter and thanked Adhya for flagging the problem. He has also promised action.
“I have received a mail and we are looking into this,” Ray said.
Dipak Kumar Mondal, the divisional forest officer of Howrah, which includes both Howrah and Hooghly districts, said they had only acted based on complaints by the local residents of the areas bordering the wetlands.
“All of the cats that had been captured were put under observation at a rescue and transit facility before being released back in the wild,” said Mondal. Last week, a group of villagers led by Sandipan Chatterjee, a consulting architect, stopped a group of foresters from trapping another fishing cat from the same area.
“They had placed a duck inside and were waiting to trap the cat when we got the news and asked them not to do so. Thankfully they listened to us and the cat was not trapped,” Chatterjee said.
Fishing cats, baghrol in Bengali, is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and included in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Killing the animal can lead to five years in jail.
The nocturnal animal thrives in wetlands and feeds mostly on fish. Their numbers have dwindled because of shrinking wetlands forcing them to stray into human settlements and prey on fish in ponds and livestock.
The forest department has launched multiple initiatives to spread awareness about fishing cats and promote their conservation.
