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The fishing cat (''Prionailurus viverrinus'') is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. In 2008, the IUCN classified the fishing cat as Endangered. Fishing cat populations are threatened by destruction of wetlands and declined severely over the last decade. Fishing cats live foremost in the vicinity of wetlands, along rivers, streams, oxbow lakes and mangrove swamps.〔 The fishing cat is the state animal of West Bengal. ==Characteristics== Fishing cats are the largest of the ''Prionailurus'' cats. They are about twice the size of a domestic cat and have a stocky, muscular build with medium to short legs. The coarse fur is olive-grey with dark spots arranged in horizontal streaks running along the length of the body. The face is elongated with a distinctly flat nose and ears set far back on the head. The underside is white, and the back of the ears are black with central white spots. There are a pair of dark stripes around the throat, and a number of black rings on the tail. Their head-to-body length typically ranges from , with a short tail of , which is one half to one third the length of the rest of the animal. They weigh from .〔 The face is spotted and the ears are short and rounded. Black spots run longitudinally across the body, and six to eight dark stripes run from behind the eyes to the nape. The underside fur is longer and often overlaid with spots.〔Burnie, D., Wilson, D. E. (2001). ''Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife''. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. ISBN 0-7894-7764-5〕 Their feet are less completely webbed than those of leopard cats, their claws incompletely sheathed.〔Pocock, R. I. (1939). (''Prionailurus viverrinus'' ) Pages 259–264 in: ''The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Mammalia. – Volume 1''. Taylor and Francis, Ltd., London.〕 Webbed feet have often been noted as a characteristic of the fishing cat, but the webbing beneath the toes is not much more developed than that of a bobcat.〔Kitchener, A. C. (1998). ''The Natural History of the Wild Cats''. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「fishing cat」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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