Exciting news from Jim Sanderson, Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation
I wrote last month that COVID-19 lit a fire under SWCCF. That fire continues to burn brightly for small wild cat conservation. On 5 October, the Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance (FCCA) received great news from Wai MIng Wong, Panthera Small Cats Program and Vice President of FCCA. On behalf of FCCA's executive team (Devan Sewell, Wild Oasis, Treasurer, and Linda Castenada, Cincinnati Zoo, Secretary, and me as President), Ming informed everyone that FCCA was the recipient of a generous $150K donation from the Ayers Wild Cat Conservation Trust to be made annually for the next three years to support FCCA's community conservation programs. The timing could not be better because FCCA has been supported solely by small grants received from successful proposals to granting institutions. Every country program is currently running on the funding treadmill just to keep afloat. Country programs were functioning on just $5K to $20K annually. You can quickly understand and appreciate the impact such a generous donation will have. This puts FCCA's many country projects on firmer ground and allows expansion into more areas to mitigate threats to fishing cats that get into trouble with people, to influence government policy, continue children's education programs, and to raise the status of fishing cats throughout their geographic range. FCCA's non-profit status, executive team composition and relationships with in-country projects, and range-wide conservation programs might well show the way forward for more small cat conservation programs. See below FCCA's new logo and read more. For small cat conservation, 2020 has been nothing but great news.
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Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance
The Fishing Cat Working Group has exciting news! We have become the Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance (FCCA), a US-based non-profit, with a new logo. Thanks to Devan Sewell for working diligently to make this happen. As a non-profit, our work and our mission can live generations beyond our founders as the need for Fishing cat protection remains essential in the future. Our team is growing rapidly, expanding our networking with other non-profits and small cat conservationists across the world. We represent the Fishing cat in all 8 range countries, most recently Pakistan. Our new status opens doors to being eligible for additional funding to keep our projects alive and thriving. All donations are tax-deductible, EIN 85-1200792. (Due to COVID-19, the IRS Database is not up to date so we have yet to be listed, but not to worry, we are official). We are hitting the ground running as a stronger and more organized Fishing cat conservation force working in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Nepal. Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. FCCA is dedicated to reducing threats to Fishing cats throughout their extant range. When Indonesian Java and Vietnam set aside space for Fishing cats, FCCA will help with re-introduction.
Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance»
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Nozomi Nakanishi, Munemitsu Akasaka and Ai Suzuki, Japan
The Iriomote cat (Prionailusus bengalensis iriomotensis) occurs only on Iriomote Island, a small island in southern Japan. A large portion of the island is protected by two different government departments, and the area is relatively well managed. Besides those departments' conservation efforts to protect its habitat, Iriomote cats have been the nation’s loved species. An interview survey of 1,000 people across Japan indicated the strongest conservation willingness towards the Iriomote cat among 20 species. The popularity of the cat can be seen in its use in sculptures on a bridge and in cookies and t-shirts at souvenir shops on the island.
Despite favorable circumstances, Iriomote cats are listed as “critically endangered” in the national red list of Japan. The lowland area is fragmented and remains unprotected although it is considered prime habitat for the Iriomote cat. A road penetrates the lowland and road-kill is the most important threat to the population. In the last four decades at least 90 individuals have been killed by vehicles. Individual-based monitoring, construction of cat-friendly road-structures, and awareness-raising campaigns have been implemented to reduce the number of road-kills. Unfortunately, the number of road-kills has not been reduced. Currently, we launched a collaborative project with HONDA to investigate the role of human errors in road-kills. The results will be integrated into conservation measures. Also, we are planning to develop a community program to reduce road-kill and other threats.
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Cintia Tellaeche, Argentina
The Andean cat (Leopardus jacobita) lives in the arid regions of the Andes of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru, a magnificent and beautiful landscape that is very dry, with extreme temperatures, sparse vegetation and with rocky outcrops separated by vast, empty arid lands. Until 20 years ago nothing was known about this cat. Just two pictures and few museum specimens were all that showed this beautiful and enigmatic wilf cat existed. In 1999 a group of passionate people from all countries where the species lived started working together to unravel its mysteries, and created Alianza Gato Andino (AGA, in English Andean Cat Alliance). After hundreds of hours of hard field work, basic aspects of its ecology we discovered. Most importantly threats to Andean cats were also identified . According to the studies undertaken so far, there is an estimated adult population of less than 1,400 individuals throughout its entire distribution, making the Andean cat the most threatened wild cat in the Americas. AGA has implemented multinational initiatives to reduce threats, working in collaboration with other institutions and local communities that share their homes with this beautiful and elusive cat.
Alianza Gato Andino
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Mariam Weston, Mexico
Is it a weasel, is it a tayra? No! It's the jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), this enigmatic animal is a small-sized feline that can be found across a large part of Mexico in a variety of different ecosystems. Despite its wide distribution and its classification as “threatened” within the Official Mexican Standard "NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010", there is very little information about the jaguarundi in comparison with the other five feline species that are distributed in the Mexican territory. This is especially problematic in the State of Morelos, where there are records of jaguarundi but no specific information has been gathered on this species, nor have conservation efforts been applied.
This is why Animal Karma, in alliance with the state´s government department of biodiversity (COESBIO), has launched a project in the Sierra Monte Negro Reserve (a vulnerable natural protected area), focusing on small wild felines to procure conservation strategies of both the jaguarundi and its habitat. So far this year we have detected three main threats to wildcats: water scarcity due to climate change, feral dogs, and the abundance of livestock in the reserve. To mitigate this we are working, along with the local communities, to launch a dog sterilization campaign in the communities, to place artificial water sources in the area during the dry season, and to install solar powered electric fences and pens to avoid backyard predation and retaliatory killings.
Animal Karma
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