A significant part of the overall fishing cat project strategy has been to capture fishing cats for biological sample collection for genetic and disease screening and to fit radio collars for ecological and homerange studies. With the discovery of a healthy breeding population at Khao Sam Roi Yod, that part of the project was set into motion in February with the capture of  three cats over a period of about 2 weeks.

Our initial captures consisted of one four-month-old male ("Calvin") and two adult females ("Namchaa" (Thai for Tea) and "Gafae" (Thai for coffee)). Based on tooth wear and overall condition, we estimated that Namchaa was about one year old at the time of her capture and that Gafae was about six years old. Calvin and Namchaa were both captured near the southern boundary of Khao Sam Roi Yod National Park while Gafae was captured inside the park in an area adjacent to the other captures.

The capture and immobilization operation was assisted by capture and handling experts from Khao Pratubchang Wildlife Breeding and Research Center and by vets from Mahidol University's Faculty of Vet\erinary Science and the Monitoring and Surveillance Center for Zoonotic Disease in Wildlife and Exotic Animals (MoZWE).

Given that Calvin was a rapidly growing juvenile at the time of his capture, we fitted his collar with a very weak "break-away" link that appeared to break away around 3-4 weeks after his capture. During that time we were able to document his movements with over 40 locations based on telemetry and camera trap data. We continue to learn about Calvin's movements through his appearance in camera trap photos. The two remaining cats are tracked daily by the project's survey team.

Based on our first set of telemetry locations and locations established through camera traps, Calvin and Namchaa's movements appear limited to the 2x2 km2 Tung Pak Chee area  dominated by rice fields, shrimp farms, and fish farms. On the other hand, Gafae's homerange (mostly covering a mangrove reforestation area within the national park) seems somewhat more stable in terms of human impacts but perhaps not as resource-rich. Her more extensive movements seem to be consistent with this.

During the day, all of the collared cats consistently rest in one of only a handful of dense "sanctuary" areas of reedgrass and shrubs. Clearly vital to fishing cats in this area, we have been concerned that several of these sanctuaries were cut or burned near the end of the dry season in preparation for the upcoming planting season. It is likely that protection of these "refuge islands" will be a cornerstone of any fishing cat conservation strattegy here and in other human-altered parts of their range.

Land conversion and direct hunting are the two main threats for fishing cats here. The rapid alterations to the land that fishing cats use will certainly affect them and may have a long-term affect on the local population if not managed to some extent. Radio-tracking collared fishing cats has given us insight into these and other habitat issues.