- A fishing cat within the Sundarbans was photographed preying on a monitor lizard, which isn’t a part of its typical weight loss program.
- Fishing cats are the state animal of West Bengal and are recognized to dwell on a weight loss program of fish, rodents, snakes and small birds.
- Ecologists say it’s potential that the fishing cat has not been getting meals in its typical habitat and altered circumstances could have led to opportunistic looking.
On a sizzling July morning, naturalist Soumyadip Santra was on a visit to the Sundarbans, the biggest mangrove forest on the planet. Whereas the boat he was on tore by the waters he caught a glimpse of a fishing cat, the apex predator of the wetlands, on the brink of make the leap at a goal. As Santra obtained his digicam prepared, the fishing cat did one thing surprising. It sprang on an grownup monitor lizard and dragged the prey in direction of the bushes. In these few fleeting seconds, Santra clicked a number of photos on his digicam which have now change into uncommon pure historical past documentation.
Santra, a naturalist working in Gujarat, advised Mongabay India that the incident occurred close to Pirkhali, part of Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary which is standard amongst vacationers for wildlife sightings. “Our boat was close to Pirkhali-6 the place we noticed the fishing cat preying on the monitor lizard,” he mentioned, including, “I’m from Bagnan in West Bengal which has a large inhabitants of fishing cats. As a naturalist, I’ve studied the ecology and behavior of fishing cats. However I’ve by no means seen them preying on a monitor lizard.”
Wildlife photographer Sudipta Chakraborty additionally took an image of the identical incident, from a special angle.
Wildlife biologist Tiasa Adhya, recognized for her intensive work on fishing cats, advised Mongabay India, “This can be a nice discover. The fishing cat is thought to be a prime predator in wetland ecosystems. This emphasises that the monitor lizard, a robust reptile with a powerful tail and almost the identical dimension as a fishing cat, is amongst its prey.”
Fishing cats are the state animal of West Bengal and are sometimes recognized to dwell on a weight loss program of fish, rodents, snakes and small birds.
A pure historical past second
Adhya mentioned that this is likely to be the primary documentation of a fishing cat preying on a monitor lizard. “Some papers say that the weight loss program of fishing cats consists of fish, small rodents, reptiles and birds. Monitor lizards could be thought of a big prey for a fishing cat,” she mentioned. Adhya in contrast the {photograph} of the primary report of a fishing cat looking a monitor lizard akin to a jaguar looking a caiman. “Jaguars generally tend to catch aquatic prey together with caiman in Pentanal. So, a fishing cat killing an grownup monitor lizard is the same pure historical past second,” she mentioned. Pentanal, world’s largest tropical wetland and flooded grasslands, is positioned in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, and has a large inhabitants of jaguar.
Samrat Chakraborty, a West Bengal-based ecologist who has revealed research on fishing cats, additionally advised Mongabay India that that is “a really unusual incident.” He added, “I’ve studied a number of papers on fishing cats and their weight loss program however monitor lizards by no means featured on their menu. The truth is, in a 1988 paper, there’s point out of fishing cats scavenging on carcass of a cow in Rajasthan. However I’ve by no means discovered any point out of monitor lizards.”
“Within the Sundarban panorama, meals is scarce. Additionally, within the wetlands, there are different opponents like otters. So, perhaps this animal has not been getting meals and so it may be referred to as opportunistic looking. The terrain of Sundarban is muddy and it’s not straightforward to pull a prey shortly there. An grownup monitor lizard is a robust reptile and the truth that the fishing cat defeated it on this carnal battle confirmed how good hunters, cats could be,” he mentioned.
A hungry predator
Wildlife photographer Sudipta Chakraborty, who has been documenting wildlife of India and overseas for the previous one and half many years, took a visit to the Sundarbans in July to get an image of a tigress named Boro Maa alongside along with her cubs. Capturing the picture of the fishing cat killing a monitor lizard was a bonus for him.
Talking to Mongabay India, he mentioned, “I preserve coming again to the Sundarbans often. Two years again, I did a espresso desk e-book on the Sundarbans on the behest of the forest division, for which I took snaps of 15-20 species. This time I went on an task to click on the tigress Boro Maa with its cubs. I obtained the image of the tigress, however minus the cubs.”
Concerning the fishing cat incident, he mentioned, “Fishing cat primarily catches fish which is its foremost prey. However in some way, this fishing cat should’ve didn’t catch any prey for a few days. So, being hungry it took an opportunity with the monitor lizard. This isn’t going to occur often.”
Santra who agreed to Sudipta’s principle of the cat being hungry, mentioned, “Other than the truth that the fishing cat preyed on a monitor lizard, one other unnatural factor occurred. The incident occurred at round 8.30 a.m. That is additionally very uncommon as fishing cats or reasonably any cats for that matter are nocturnal predators. So, they received’t be seen within the morning except they have been hungry and have been desperately in search of a kill. Additionally, a monitor lizard has very robust scales on its again and it received’t be straightforward for the fishing cat to tear by and attain its flesh.”
Learn extra: Conserving fishing cats exterior protected areas
Banner picture: A fishing cat in Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary within the Sundarbans preys on a monitor lizard. Picture by Soumyadip Santra.
