Conservation practitioners recently gathered in Bangkok to review regional records of small carnivores and to identify priorities for their conservation. As a group, small carnivores recieve relatively little attention despite the fact that many of these species face significant and sometimes critical threats to their survival.

As a carnivore species weighing less than 15 kg, fishing cats were a species of interest for the meeting and representatives of the Fishing Cat Research and Conservation Project were in attendance to represent recent achievements and a significant body of information on ecology, threats, and conservation strategies that has been collected by the project. Due to their limited know range and clear threats to their survival, fishing cats were identified as a species of the highest concern for focused conservation attention. The fishing cat research and conservation project will act as a focal point for ongoing research and conservation efforts as a coordinated strategy for general small carnivore conservation evolves.

Among the specific contributions made by the fishing cat team were to assist with camera trap photo identification, provide insight into current threats, and help develop research and conservation priorities for the species.

Results of the workshop will be publicized in the coming weeks.