Fishing cat poop reveals plastic peril in Sundarbans

Time of India

05-05-2025

KOLKATA: A study has laid bare the presence of plastic in scat samples of fishing cats in the
Indian Sundarbans
, indicating how far the non-biodegradable pollutant has penetrated the fragile ecosystem.
Plastic was also found in their environmental and dietary components like soil, water, vegetation, rodents, fish and crabs. The plastic includes both high- and low-density polyethylene and the study follows similar exposes on the presence of heavy metals in the
Sundarbans ecosystem
. Experts blame tourism, unused fishing nets discarded in the islands and industrial influx from Kolkata for the magnitude of the problem.
'Microplastics detected in the scat samples of fishing cats are mainly fibres with some beads and pellets, foam, sheets and fragments. The sizes ranged between 0.1 and 0.9mm. An analysis confirmed that the majority of microplastics were composed of high-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene and polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, poly-ether, and diglycidyl ethers that are common constituents of plastic pollution originating from tourist and industrial waste,' principal investigator and Calcutta University zoology professor Samrat Chakraborty said, quoting from the study. Indian Statistical Institute professors Goutam Kumar Saha and Tanoy Mukherjee along with Joydip Kundu of city-based NGO SHER were the co-principal investigators.
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The study — conducted at Pakhiralay, Patharpratima, Lothian Wildlife Sanctuary and Henry's Island with the Wildlife Conservation Trust's BEES Grants — identified unscientific tourism loads and random littering (of plastic packets and bottles) plus nets discarded by fisherfolk as the microplastic sources.
Plastic pollution could lead to gastrointestinal problems in fishing cats, Bengal's state animal, Chakraborty said. 'This can also result in behavioural changes that may impact their hunting practices. These toxins can cause severe damage to the reproductive cycles, resulting in poor litter numbers or babies with imm-unological problems. All these may impact the fishing cat population in the near future,' he added.
The same study earlier detected the presence of heavy metals like lead and chromium in fishing cat scat samples and the environment.
The team has also conducted two awareness camps in the Sundarbans. Teachers from forest fringes participated in the camp at Pakhiralay, where they focused on the pollutants' toxic effects. The team conducted a clean-up drive at the Bhagabatpur Crocodile Sanctuary.
Awareness camps, too, were held in 12 south Bengal districts to reach out to a wider audience of grassroots communities, teachers, fishermen, boatmen, students and other stakeholders and make them aware of the ecological significance of fishing cats and the need for their conservation, Chakraborty said.
Earlier, the study had pointed to heavy metal presence in the mangroves.
As per initial findings, there is presence of heavy metals such as lead and chromium in the fishing cats' scat samples, their environmental samples — water, soil, vegetation — and also in food chain — fish, rodents, crabs.
According to Chakraborty, scats and the environmental samples were initially collected. 'This was followed by acid digestion and then quantification of heavy metals by using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry technique (ICP-OES) to arrive at the initial results,' he elaborated.