In January 2009, field scientists convened in Bangkok to review the state of knoweldge of nine smaller cat species in Southeast Asia and to set broad conservation priorities for these species. The report can be downloaded here. With the exception of jungle cat (Felis chaus), fishing cats appeared to have the smallest confirmed geographic range of the species reviewed.

Maps (reposted with permission) from:

Povey, K, J.G. Howard, Sunarto, D. Priatna, D. Ngoprasert, D. Reed, A. Wilting, A. Lynam, I. Haidai, B. Long, A. Johnson, S. Cheyne, C. Breitenmoser, K. Holzer, and O. Byers (eds.). CBSG. 2009. Clouded Leopard and Small Felid Conservation Summit Final Report. IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group: Apple Valley, MN .

While outwardly quite alarming, care should be taken in nterpreting these results. Confirming the occurrence of any rare species takes field effort and it was clear that the areas where fishing cats are most likely to occur have recieved relatively less attention than for several other species. However, the assessment is a wake-up call in light of the fact that fishing cats were considered much more common throughout most of their range only a decade ago.

Summit participants also identified key threats faced by small felids in 11 key patches of intact habitat in the region. The most urgent of these are: