The Story of Olan: A Fishing Cat Finds His Way Home

Since 2022, Panthera has been fitting fishing cats with GPS collars in the area in and around Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, Thailand. This important wildlife habitat is also highly fragmented by human developments, including fishponds and shrimp farms. Because of this, fishing cats here face challenges to their survival and are listed as “Vulnerable” by the IUCN Red List. In this blog from Panthera Thailand Director Kritsana Kaewplang, learn about the story of one fishing cat navigating this terrain.

The picturesque hills and wetlands of southern Thailand make for ideal habitat for fishing cats, one of the world’s most threatened wild cat species. The lagoons and ponds make perfect habitat for this small cat adapted to hunting in the water, allowing them opportunities to spring upon two of their favorite food sources, frogs and fish. Webbed feet and sharp claws allow them to pluck a delicacy from the water, taking it back to their cubs. Even their long whiskers help detect vibrations in the water, signaling the movement of fish. 

However, this fishing cat paradise is not the haven that it could be. Like most wild cats around the world, fishing cats coexist with human communities in these farmland areas. In the densely populated regions of Southeast Asia, this can present an especially difficult challenge. Though once considered plentiful, fishing cats have rapidly declined in recent years due to human development, which has fragmented many species’ ranges, ultimately leading to overfishing and human-cat conflict. Fishing cat numbers have collapsed over much of their historic range, and it’s up to us to ensure their survival. 

To Collar a Cat

A group of Panthera scientists along with research colleagues in and around Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park in southern Thailand set out to fit fishing cats with GPS collars. These collars are intended to provide Panthera with data on fishing cat movements and behaviors to help us learn how they navigate a mosaic of local fishponds, rice paddies and shrimp farms. These agricultural areas are where human-cat conflict happens the most, allowing our researchers to survey the problem head-on. 

Meet Olan

It was then that we met Olan. Our researchers captured a male fishing cat who we gave the name “Olan,” initiating our study to see if he could successfully and safely navigate this landscape that he calls home. My team, including scientists Supawat Khaewphakdee and Wiroon Mongkonsin , fitted him with a satellite collar and eagerly began to monitor his movements. How would Olan find his way through this increasingly developing agricultural landscape?

Using telemetry data from the collar, we found that Olan and other fishing cats liked using areas with heavy landscape and foliage cover. Interestingly, this meant that Olan navigated his way home by way of traditional shrimp farms, which are less developed and retain far more cover than the industrial shrimp farms that have begun to dot the landscape. It’s likely that Olan and other fishing cats feel safer moving through traditional shrimp farms — more foliage gives them a better opportunity to avoid danger. 

The Path to Coexistence

In a landscape where human development will continue to expand, it’s evident that maintaining less-invasive ways of life is necessary to ensure fishing cat survival and genetic diversity. Traditional shrimp farms allow fishing cats to live safely alongside humans, who need farms and fishponds for their own economic survival. Modern, industrial shrimp farms leave the landscape too barren, which may fuel further conflict between cats and humans and cause fishing cats to look for an easy food source, like a domestic animal, which may spark retaliation from locals.

However, despite any act of human-cat conflict, coexistence is possible. In addition to a shift to prioritize traditional aquaculture, community members are also using fishing cats like Olan to draw in funds with job opportunities and ecotourism. This is best exemplified by Somkhit Muangpae,  the deputy village headman who coordinates with Panthera and helps bring tourists to the area to show them fishing cat scats and trail cameras. With Panthera's program in Brazil as a prime example, people in Thailand –– in collaboration with our local partner, the Seub Nakasathien Foundation –– are learning that wild cat tourism can bring in more money and jobs, despite carnivores living nearby. The fragmented landscape of southern Thailand may look like an unfamiliar maze to a fishing cat, but with the right planning, small wild cats like Olan will be able to find their way and make themselves at home. 

Olan’s story is just one of many wild cat stories in their struggle for survival and coexistence. To support wild cats like Olan across the globe, consider doubling your donation today as we approach the end of the year. All donations to Panthera received from November 22 through December 31, 2023, will be tax-deductible and matched, dollar-for-dollar, by The Ayers Wild Cat Conservation Trust.