Home range and factors affecting the appearance of the fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) in a human-dominated landscape, Thailand

A study on the size of the home range and factors affecting the appearance of the fishing cats using satellite collars at Khao Sam Roi Yot Wetland (KSRYWL), Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, Thailand was conducted from June 2022 to February 2024. This study aimed to determine the size of the home range and factors affecting the appearance of this species. Twelve fishing cats, five adult males and seven adult females, were trapped and tagged with satellite collars. The average home range size based on Autocorrelated Kernel Density Estimation (AKDE) of male and female were 6.29 km² (range 3.40–9.69 km²) and 2.83 km² (range 1.35–5.25 km²), respectively. The study's results found that factors affecting the appearance of fishing cats were topographic factors, including Elevation Slope, NDVI, and anthropogenic factors, including distance to villages, distance to aquaculture, and distance to abandoned aquaculture, which were significantly significant. The results of the comparative study between male and female leopard fish found that the factor. Distance to aquaculture had a greater effect on the presence of male leopard fish than female leopard fish, meaning that male leopard fish are more vulnerable to threats from humans. The findings of this study can be used for habitat protection and management activities related to species conservation.