Fishing Cat: The Pride of Bengal
Festival Winners
•
01-Dec-2023
The fishing cat locally known as ‘Baghrol’ are endangered wild cats which are also the state animal of West Bengal.
Found in the wetland terrains of eastern India, these nocturnal cats are carnivores predators, twice the size of a domestic cats, who mainly prey on fishes. Due to their likeness of appearance to leopard with olive grey fur and black strips as well as the fact that they hunt for fish from ponds and fisheries, that the village folk depend on their livelihood for, a large number of these wild cats are killed by the locals. Further due to wide spared industrialization and the clearing of wetland areas for urban development, the fishing cats are increasingly losing their habitats. This along with other hazards of human intervention like road kill has caused the ‘Baghrol’ to become endangered species.
This film seeks to raise awareness among audiences from all walks of life regarding the endangerment of the ‘Baghrol’. The filmmaker, Kaushik Mukhopadhyay aims for this film to be a voice for the ongoing conservation movement for wetlands as well as the fishing cats.
Up Next in Festival Winners
-
Rattled
The Orianne Society has determined one apex predator to be of vital importance to the Appalachian region, yet it is facing tremendous challenges towards its conservation. It is an animal that we have felt threatened by, and have demonized for centuries, compromising our own capacity for understan...
-
Faces of the Cloud Forest
In Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Southwestern Uganda, growing conflict with people puts the local population of Mountain Gorillas at risk.
In her struggle to protect them, one veterinarian discovers that the similarities between the two communities threatening to destroy them both.
Director: Hugh... -
Guardian of the Sea Lions
Guardian of the Sea Lions" is a film centred around Janet Ledingham, an 83 year-old woman who voluntarily collects data on sea lions, a nationally vulnerable species, for the New Zealand Sea Lion Trust. It is both informative and inspiring as we learn about Janet’s passion for sea lions and her r...
