Our images showed what type of habitat fossa used, when they were active, and how they co-existed with other carnivores such as dogs. The only thing “trapped” is the animal’s digital image. And without good numbers, scientists can’t assess whether a species is threatened or develop plans for protecting it.Īutomatic cameras, known as camera traps, are a standard tool for collecting information on elusive wildlife in remote areas. Because of their elusive nature, it is particularly hard to figure out basic things, such as how many fossa there are in an area. Lack of funding and political instability has made it hard for Madagascar’s government and conservation organizations to study the fossa. And in 2015, our study captured photos suggesting that male fossa in the eastern rainforests will also associate. Since then, some male fossa have been seen to team up with another male or two to hunt prey and protect a larger territory than solitary males. Otherwise, however, fossa were thought to be solitary until 2010, when researchers observed three male fossa working together to kill a lemur. In the deciduous forests of western Madagascar, scientists have discovered that male and female fossa will gather together at the same spot year after year to mate. Researchers think this helps sexually immature females avoid the aggressive attentions of males looking for females with which to mate. During this phase, their clitorises enlarge and grow spines to look like an adult male fossa’s penis. They are one of nine mammalian species whose sexually immature females go through a period of transient masculinization. Fossa, like other top predators, help keep prey populations at a level that their habitat can support, and rid the population of diseased and weak individuals.įossa also exhibit some very interesting behaviors. One study found that fossa were largely responsible for two lemur family groups disappearing from forests over a two-year period. They are capable hunters on land and in the trees, using their tails for balance and killing by biting through their prey’s skulls. Our research provides key information that can help correctly assess fossas’ threatened status and lay the basis for appropriate conservation action.įossa weigh about 20 pounds and can prey on most of Madagascar’s other species. We found that this area holds a significant portion of the global fossa population, and is likely the last stronghold for this unique species. I worked on a team of researchers from the United States and Madagascar that spent seven years surveying Madagascar’s largest protected area – a zone the size of Connecticut – with trail cameras to see if we could determine how many fossa were there. They are rare, difficult to see in the wild, and lack unique coat patterns that would make it easy to distinguish individual animals. But scientists know little else about them, including how many fossa there are. Like much of Madagascar’s wildlife, fossa are found nowhere else in the world. Like other top predators such as lions and wolves, they play a critical ecological role regulating the populations of their prey. But few people realize that lemurs’ fate is directly bound up with that of Madagascar’s largest predator, the fossa ( Cryptoprocta ferox), which is threatened by some of the same pressures.įossa are terrier-sized, cat-like relatives of mongoose with tails as long as their bodies. As many people know, these unique primates are found nowhere else, and are the most endangered group of mammals in the world. Mention wildlife on Madagascar and the first thing listeners probably picture is the island’s famed lemurs.

Madagascar predator vs prey