The Fossa

The Fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) Is the largest carnivorous mammal living on the island of Madagascar, their home.  They can be up to 6 feet long because of their long tails. They look like a cross between a cat, a dog and a mongoose. Fossa's are the number 1 hunting animals on Madagascar. They are very agile climbers their tails help provide balance and its semi retractable claws and flexible ankles help the Fossa climb up trees head first. Fossa's have a very unusual mating system, the females climb up a tree, while the males congregate below about their mating rights, the females are given the next week to decide who to choose, Fossa's mate around September and October. Currently Fossa's are endangered due to habitat loss due to logging and slash-and-burn agriculture, only about 8% of Madagascar's original cover remains, this is believed to have happened over the past 50 years. Fossa's are increasingly being driven into human settlements and sometimes prey on domestic poultry which causes farmers to kill them in order to protect their livestock.  Fossa's mainly feast on lemurs, there are over 30 species of lemur on the island of Madagascar. Explorers first arrived on this island approximately 2000 years ago, at that time scientists believed that the Fossa would be met by a bizarre assemblage of now extinct beasts, including lemurs the size of gorillas and 10 feet tall flightless birds. Females give birth annually to a litter of 2 to 4 young, adulthood is reached after 3 years of life. They weigh about 7-12 kg. The Fossa is usually active during both day and night. The population of the Fossa is less than 2500, it is listed as an endangered animal by the IUCN.