World’s first fishing cat survey took place at the Chilika Lake in Odisha.
It has provided the world’s first population estimation of the fishing cat.
This lake has 176 fishing cats.
The Chilika Lake is the Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon in Odisha.
Fishing Cats were declared the State animal by West Bengal in 2012.
The Chilika authorities announced in 2020 that the fishing cat was the lake’s ambassador.
The fishing cats are endangered worldwide.
Within their range of countries, they are classed as Vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
Fishing Cat is a schedule I species under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.