Fisher: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the fisher lives – recorded in 1 country, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Martes pennanti
Group	Weasels, otters, badgers & skunks
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	1 country
Continents	North America
Class	Mammal
Order	Carnivora
Family	Mustelidae

Where does the fisher live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the fisher in 1 country or territory across North America. Wikidata gives its range as: Canada, United States.

United States

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the fisher endangered?

The fisher’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the fisher?

The fisher (Martes pennanti) is a mammal in the order Carnivora and the family Mustelidae, genus Martes. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the fisher

The fisher (Pekania pennanti) is a carnivorous mammal native to North America, a forest-dwelling creature whose range covers much of the boreal forest in Canada to the northern United States. It is a member of the mustelid family and is the only living member of the genus Pekania. Although it is sometimes referred to colloquially as a fisher cat, it is not a feline.

The fisher is similar to, but larger than, the American marten (Martes americana) and Pacific marten (Martes caurina). In some regions, the fisher is known as a pekan, derived from its name in the Abenaki language, or wejack, an Algonquian word (cf. Cree ocêk, Ojibwa ojiig) borrowed by fur traders. Other Indigenous names for the fisher are Chipewyan thacho and Carrier chunihcho, both meaning "big marten", and Wabanaki uskool.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Fisher (animal) (revision 1381201810), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q584064 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).