Trapped fishing cat rescued

OST Bureau
Brahmagiri (Puri), Jan 30:

The local fishermen on Wednesday morning released a fishing cat which was found trapped in a fishing net in the Chilika lake at Sipalabana near Brahmagiri forest beat house under Brahmagiri forest range.

According to reports, the local fishermen had spread fishing net near the shore of the lake in the night. The fishing got trapped in the net while trying to eat the rotten fish that lay stuck in it.

In the morning, a local fisherman found the fishing cat trapped while pulling the net out of water. He along with other fishermen manage to release the cat in the wild after cutting a portion of the net.

The forest officials have no information about the incident.

It may be mentioned that the fishing cat is included in the rare species group under Schedule-1 of the Wildlife Act.

The forest officials had earlier rescued two fishing cats from this area.

Earlier in 2008, the forest officials had rescued two fishing kittens from the area and handed them over to the Nandankanan zoo authorities.