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FOSSA
Cryptoprocta ferox
Habitat
Throughout Madagascar and on the
small island of Sant-Marie off the coast
of Madagascar. Fossas live in dense
forests including mountainous regions
up to 2600m in altitude and avoid
treeless habitats.
Characteristics
• Fossas are colored a reddish-brown that fades to cream on the underside. They can grow
up to 6 feet in length from nose to tail tip and usually weigh between 7-12kg.
• The overall body shape and many characteristics, including its retractable claws and even
the molars, resemble that of a cat, however the low-slung body and the shape of its skull
place the fossa in the Viverridae family along with meerkats, civets and genets.
• Although small, fossas are surprisingly powerful. Their size makes them fast and agile
and the long tail, usually equal in length to their body, improves their balance in trees.
Facts
• Solitary animals, fossas are good at hiding and spend most of the time on ground and in
the trees. Because they are so shy, scientists have a difficult time studying and observing
the mammal.
• They are the top predator on Madagascar, and are fierce and ferocious hunters willing to
eat any small to medium sized animal they can catch.
• Because lemurs, the favored prey of the fossa, are cathemeral (active at any time of the
day or night), so is the fossa.
• Fossas are one of eight native predators on Madagascar, so they play a key role in the
ecosystem by keeping the population of its prey in check. Without the fossa, plant
growth would dramatically change with the surge of herbivorous species, including
lemurs, and many animals lower on the food chain would face extinction as well.
• Loss of habitat is the biggest threat to the endangered fossa. Madagascar is home to
approximately 200,000 known animal species, 80 percent unique to the island. Humans
have had a huge impact on the ecology of Madagascar; today, less than 10 percent of the
original forest cover, the fossa’s only habitat, remains.