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Lucknow zoo welcomes kittens of rare fishing cat
by Kamna Mathur

      Lucknow: The zoological park at Lucknow welcomed with great ecstasy kittens of rare fishing cat and cares for them with utmost attention. Barely a week old, the kittens were brought just two days ago to the zoo after their mother, reportedly, abandoned them in a jungle in the Terai belt. And now the pretty tiny felines are being taken care of by the zoo staff members. The diet happens to be goat's milk. According to Renu Singh, director of the zoo, in her decade long career, this is the first ever instance that she has seen the fishing cats and indeed she is elated at the rare addition. "It's a very rare variety and belongs to schedule I category. It's an endangered species. The distributions of these cats are very less and are not found in many places. They are found in wet lands in the Terai belt," said Renu. Found mainly around the water bodies, marshy land, mangroves, fish is the main prey of this feline and hence named the fishing cat. These cats have partial webs in its claws, which helps them to scoop out fish from the water easily. Interestingly, unlike the other cats which are allergic to water the fishing cats swim similar to the tigers. The fishing cat is placed under schedule (I) of the Wildlife Protection Act, which makes them an endangered species.
-April 14, 2009

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