Fishing cats are one of the few genuinely aquatic wild cats, specialised for hunting fish in South and Southeast Asian wetlands. Their semi-aquatic lifestyle creates unique welfare requirements that many zoo enclosures fail to meet.
Fishing cat welfare in zoos is fundamentally dependent on water access. Unlike terrestrial felids for which water is a luxury enrichment, fishing cats have evolved for an aquatic hunting lifestyle and require genuine swimming opportunities to express core behavioural motivations. Enclosures with only small drinking pools or inadequate water features fail this species at a fundamental level, resulting in understimulated animals with reduced activity and elevated stereotypic behaviour. The quality of water features matters as much as their presence: water must be deep enough for swimming, clear enough to hunt in, and changed frequently enough to maintain appropriate hygiene. Fishing enrichment — introducing live or freshly killed fish to the water — transforms the water feature from a passive resource into an active hunting environment, significantly improving time budgets. The species' crepuscular activity pattern should be respected in exhibit management: forcing diurnal activity through feeding schedules or visitor programming disrupts natural rhythms.