Looks like a Maine Coon cat, right in his element! Some cats like the water, some don’t.
There is a wild breed in Africa, I believe, that is called the “Fishing Cat.” Cats bring the kittens into the river to teach them to fish. Very interesting!!
Today’s special animal friend is the fishing cat, Prionailurus viverrinus, a wild cat native to south and southeast Asia. The largest member of the Prionailurus genus, it is about twice the size of most domestic cats. Males can be over 30 inches long, plus a tail about a foot long, and weigh up to 35 lbs. Females are much smaller, weighing up to 15 lbs. This degree of sexual dimorphism is unusual in smaller cat species. They have tawny or grayish fur with darker stripes, spots, and blotches.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ0uS-reQbE
Just kidding, this is not a fishing cat, only a cat fishing. Fishing cats have semi-webbed feet for swimming and a very dense undercoat that keeps water away from their skin. They live in marshes and wetlands, scooping fish from the water with their paws and occasionally diving in. They also eat birds, rats, amphibians, and other small animals on land. Fishing cats in zoos are given fish to catch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ0uS-reQbE
Fishing cats are generally solitary, but females in heat will shriek and yowl, attracting males. Mating season is late winter/early spring, and two or three kittens are born, after about two months’ gestation, in the warmest part of the year. Like other kittens, they are blind and helpless at birth. The mother nurses them for up to six months, although they begin eating prey during this period. They leave their mother before they are a year old, and they begin their own reproductive lives at 1-1/2 to 2 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ58wzWvdc4
Fishing cats are rated as Vulnerable by IUCN. Habitat loss is the main threat. They are very hard to observe in the wild, but they have been spotted in agricultural or suburban habitats in recent years. It is theorized that they are not expanding their range; rather, they are adapting to farmland’s or cities’ encroaching onto their existing range.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeozKSs9fuU
Fishing cats are kept in zoos in Eurasia and the Americas. There is an international breeding plan, but getting them to breed in captivity isn’t easy, as it is difficult to induce ovulation in the females outside their natural habitat. They can live over 15 years in captivity, but it is assumed their lifespan in the wild is considerably shorter.
This is a good close-up video. I think it’s in a zoo because the vegetation looks American.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjBmEMI9jJo