Research overview: urban wetland loss as the primary threat to fishing cats

The draining, filling and pollution of wetlands for urban development is the foremost threat to fishing cats across their range, nowhere more starkly than in rapidly growing South Asian cities. This overview synthesises land-cover, hydrology and population research on how the steady loss of marshes and paddy to construction shrinks and isolates fishing cat habitat in places like Colombo. It examines the value of urban wetlands for flood control and biodiversity, policy efforts to protect remaining marshes, and the role of the fishing cat as a flagship for wetland conservation. The synthesis frames wetland protection as inseparable from the species survival.