In Bangladesh, a fishing cat found severely injured and emaciated has been released into the wild after several months of rehabilitation. The animal was released on the grounds of a tea plantation bordering a large freshwater wetland, Mongabay reports.
Treatment and preparation for release
The male fishing cat was rescued by Bangladesh’s Forest Department in February 2026 and transferred to the Yankichhara Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in the country’s northeast. According to Caesar Rahman, executive director of the conservation organization Creative Conservation Alliance, the animal’s jaw was dislocated, likely as a result of being beaten by people. The cat could not eat on its own, weighed barely 5 kg and was severely emaciated.
After several weeks of tube feeding and veterinary treatment, the animal’s condition improved. Its weight later reached 12 kg. Before its release, the cat was kept for more than eight weeks in an enclosure for gradual acclimatization to its natural environment at the Uterbhag and Idanugger tea estate.
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Satellite monitoring
The cat was fitted with a satellite collar that will allow conservationists to track its movements after release. Rahman noted that rescued animals often do not receive proper rehabilitation: they either die while in human care or are released without an appropriate protocol, leaving their subsequent fate unknown.
Muntasir Akash, an associate professor of zoology at the University of Dhaka who was not involved in the work, called the case a translocation of an animal following a conflict rather than a full return to the wild. He noted that rehabilitation helped the cat regain its physical condition, but could not sufficiently develop the spatial memory needed for life in the wild. At the same time, the specialist called it an important milestone for spatial ecology research in Bangladesh.
Fishing cats live mainly in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, up to 7,500 individuals may remain in the wild. In Bangladesh, about 95% of the species’ range is located outside protected areas. Creative Conservation Alliance sees cooperation with tea plantations as a possible model for conserving the species: there are at least 135 such estates in the country’s northeast.
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