How Quickly Can You Spot The Fishing Cat Camouflaged In This Pic?

Indian Forest Services officer Ramesh Pandey took to Twitter this morning to share a puzzle that has left many fascinated. Mr Pandey challenged his followers to find the fishing cat camouflaged in a picture of a jungle - a place where these cats are rarely spotted. 

"Spot the cat in the frame. Though hardly seen deep inside jungles, fishing cats prefer to live near water bodies," wrote Mr Pandey while sharing the picture, in which the cat is seen in the midst of thick vegetation. His hashtag #TeraiTales suggested that the photo was clicked in the Terai region of the Himalayan foothills.

About twice the size of house cats, fishing cats are adept swimmers who prey on fish, as their name suggests. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, these cats are even known to dive to catch fish and are found in wetlands like the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans or the Himalayan foothills along the Ganga and Brahmaputra river valleys.

How quickly can you spot the fishing cat in this picture? Take a look:

Spot the cat in the frame. Though hardly seen deep inside jungles, Fishing cats prefer to live near waterbodies. Adept swimmer they enter waterbodies frequently to prey on fish. They are known to even dive to catch fish.#wildlife #cats #TeraiTales pic.twitter.com/ngqstE35yl

— Ramesh Pandey IFS (@rameshpandeyifs) May 11, 2020

Many Twitter users were able to spot the cat quickly and shared their answers:

Very close to the base of the tree trunk.

— PatriotIndian (@Patriot86589254) May 11, 2020

I found Sir... pic.twitter.com/pDWSJQbLWr

— Dr Daksh Gangwar (@DakshGangwar2) May 11, 2020

Others complimented the photograph:

This is so nice

— Left of right & Right of left (@nitthoo17) May 11, 2020

अद्भुत ????????????✌️

— Dheeraj G धीरज (@Dheerajgod) May 11, 2020

The fishing cat has been classified as "Vulnerable" on IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species. Their population is threatened by destruction of wetlands. Prevention of indiscriminate trapping, snaring and poisoning will help increase their declining population, according to WWF. In India, this cat is also protected from hunting.

How quickly did you spot the fishing cat? Let us know using the comments section.