Guest writer: Scott Kayser

Hi everyone! My name is Scott Kayser and I’m a zookeeper who has had the privilege of working with fishing cats for the past 5 years. If you have visited the Urban Fishing Cat website (and I’m assuming you have if you are reading this post), you have seen photos of the two handsome cats that I work with. They are brothers and litter-mates named Tegas and Broucek. Through this blog post, I hope to give a little insight into these cats beyond the photos you’ve seen.

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Text and photography by Mihiri Wikramanayake – crossposted from Mihipedia.lk

It’s an overcast Sunday afternoon, and while the clouds keep the sun at bay, the day is devoid of its usual humidity and seems perfect for walking. Today, like many times before, we are letting our two dogs explore the wetland.

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Almost a stone’s throw from the Parliament Complex at Sri Jayawardenapura, Kotte, the Diyasaru Uyana (formerly known as the Thalawathugoda Biodiversity Study Park), is a 60-acre urban wetland that is home to more than 80 species of wetland birds, over 40 species of butterflies, dragonflies, mammals, amphibians, fish, reptiles and other terrestrial and aquatic plant species. Adding to the list is the otter, the Purple-faced leaf monkey, a long-tailed arboreal languor endemic to Sri Lanka, and the even a couple of estuarine crocodiles.   (more…)