Rare photos capture fishing cat preying on monitor lizard in the Sundarbans

In July, naturalist Soumyadip Santra was on a trip to the Indian Sundarbans, part of the world’s largest mangrove forest, when he witnessed an unusual scene: a fishing cat jumped on an adult monitor lizard and dragged it away toward some bushes. Santra’s photographs of the fishing cat in action captured a rare bit of natural history, reports contributor Nabarun Guha for Mongabay India. Fishing cats (Prionailurus viverrinus) are medium-sized wildcats found in the wetlands of South and Southeast Asia. Listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, they’re known to live mainly on a diet of fish, small birds, insects and reptiles. Fishing cat expert Tiasa Adhya said Santra’s photograph may be the first documentation of the cat catching a monitor lizard (Varanus spp.), a large-sized prey. “This is a great find,” Adhya said. “The fishing cat is known to be a top predator in wetland ecosystems. This emphasizes that the monitor lizard, a powerful reptile with a strong tail and nearly the same size as a fishing cat, is among its prey.” Adhya likened the interaction to jaguars (Panthera onca) hunting caimans in the Pentanal wetlands of South America. “Jaguars have a tendency to catch aquatic prey including caiman,” Adhya said. “So, a fishing cat killing an adult monitor lizard is a similar natural history moment.” A fishing cat photographed feeding on a monitor lizard near Pirkhali, a part of Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary, in the Indian Sundarbans. Image courtesy of Soumyadip Santra. Another ecologist who has studied fishing…This article was originally published on Mongabay