The ill-fated cat is assumed to have come from the Sundarbans CollectedThis was the fifth instance of a member of this species beaten to death over the past four months.
The fishing cat (prionailurus viverrinus) is on the Red List of Threatened Species by the International Union of Conservation of Nature. According to the IUCN's data, this particular animal, at four feet in length, should be categorised as a cub as it is much smaller than the full grown adult of the species.
The incident took place in Aburi village under Mirpur upazila's Malihad union. After beating the animal to death, they hanged it from a tree for public display.
The ill-fated cat is assumed to have come from the Sundarbans, one of the areas in Bangladesh where the fishing cat is known to roam.
Jumarat Ali, a local resident, said the fishing cat was frequently seen around the neighborhood after sunset.
Assistant Sub-Inspector Al Amin of Malihad police camp told the Dhaka Tribune that some locals had chased the animal in the morning, mistaking it for a fox.Also Read- Watch: Fishing cat gives birth in captivity
The endangered animal was finally buried afterwards, though. Awami League Malihad union unit President Akram Hossain said the fishing cat was the fifth one to die in a human attack in the area in last few months. “Previously, a fishing cat cub was killed in the same manner about four months ago,” he said. Meanwhile, Aslam Majumder, divisional forest officer (for Kushtia, Meherpur and Chudanga districts) under the Forest Department's Khulna range, could not be reached over phone despite repeated attempts made by the Dhaka Tribune's Kushtia correspondent Al Mamun Sagor on Monday night. Bangladeshi newspaper reports say that villagers killed at least 30 fishing cats between January 2010 and March 2013, according to Wikipedia.
