Fishing cats are semi-aquatic wild felids whose welfare in zoo settings depends critically on access to water for swimming, hunting enrichment and thermoregulation.
Fishing cat welfare in zoo settings is fundamentally linked to water access. These are animals whose entire evolutionary history and natural behavioural repertoire is organised around water - hunting, playing, thermoregulating and moving through aquatic environments. Zoos that provide only token water features deny fishing cats their most species-specific behaviours, resulting in barren behavioural profiles and signs of chronic stress. Welfare-centred fishing cat exhibits provide large, deep pools that allow true swimming, prey items delivered in water to stimulate hunting behaviour, and enrichment designed around the species' aquatic adaptations.