Fossa

Fossa is the largest predatory mammal of the island of Madagascar . Its prehistoric relative of Cryptoprocta spelea reached the size of an ocelot (17-20 kg).

Kind of fossy very peculiar. Outwardly, it is somewhat reminiscent of the jaguarundi or small puma, and for a long time was considered a cat family.

The length of her body is up to 61-80 cm, the height at the withers is up to 37 cm, the length of the tail is often equal to the length of the body - up to 65 cm. Weight is 7-12 kg. The body of the fossa is massive and dense, elongated. The legs are relatively long, with short, sharp, semi-stretching claws that look like cats. The hind legs are higher than the front. When walking, the fossus, as a rule, steps with its entire sole, like a bear . The fossa muzzle is short, the forehead is wide, the ears are large, rounded, the vibrissae are very long. In general, compared to the body, her head appears small, and her neck is long. Her teeth - 32-36; canines and predatory teeth are well developed, and the upper molars, on the contrary, have almost disappeared.

Fossa's coat is short, smooth and soft. Color - smooth, rusty-brown, sometimes with a gray tinge on the back; the belly is lighter. The tail is covered with hair of the same length as on the body. Often there are black individuals. The fossa has anal and prepucial glands that secrete a secret with a specific strong odor. Its scientific name, Cryptoprocta , she received for the presence of the anal bag: ancient-Greek. κρυπτός "hidden" and πρωκκός "back passage".

Despite the vast range, no subspecies and races of fossas have been identified.

Fossa spread throughout Madagascar , except the central mountain plateau .

This is the only species of Madagascar predators that spends part of life in open spaces. Lair foss are located in the woods, but in search of food they wander into the savannah . In mountainous areas rises to 2000 m above sea level. Active mainly at night, but the hunt goes at dusk. During the daytime, hiding in caves and other natural shelters. Known fossa burrows, arranged in abandoned termite mounds , as well as burrows dug by them. Often hiding in the forks of the trees.

Foss are the main predators of Madagascar . Their diet consists of small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects. Often they attack lemurs that can be chased through trees. Caught the animal kills the fossus, holding the front paws and biting the back of the head, and sometimes destroys more animals than can eat. This foss, often ruin chicken coops, gained a bad reputation among the local population.

Fossians are semi-woody animals that can jump from branch to branch (although they prefer to cover distances longer than 50 m on the ground). Climbs foss trees with paws and a tail. When lifting, it moves along the trunk, spreading its front legs wide and pulling the hind legs under the belly, which, then straightening, push it forward. During the descent, the opposite is true: the hind legs placed play the role of brakes, and the front legs bend. They are very mobile and resemble ordinary squirrels .

Lifestyles are solitary - each fossa occupies an area of ​​about 1 km². The territory they mark secretions of glands. Among the fantastic stories of malgashes about fossas, there is one such: they supposedly not only attack chicken coops, but are also capable of killing birds only with the foul smell of anal glands.

The voice of the Foss resembles that of the cats : they are capable of issuing a threatening rumbling, turning into a drawn-out meow; cubs purr.

Foss are predominantly solitary, but during heat (September — October), 3-4 males gather around one female. In the mating period, fossi lose their usual caution and become aggressive, taking threatening poses and arranging fights, during which each male tries to bite an opponent. Mating occurs on the ground or on a horizontal branch and lasts up to 165 minutes.

Cubs are born after a three-month pregnancy - in December — January. Unlike other Madagascar predators, the female Foss gives rise to 2-4 cubs (the rest - only one). At birth, the newborn foss weighs about 100 g; she is helpless, blind and toothless, covered with thick light gray fur. The female is obviously offspring alone. On the 12-15th day, the cubs see their sight; at the age of 2 months, they already climb along branches, and at 3.5 months they are able to jump from branch to branch. Mother feeds them milk for 4-4.5 months, although by that time they are already beginning to eat meat. At the age of 15–20 months they leave the mother, although they reach adult size and sexual maturity only by 4 years.

Foss life (in captivity) lasts up to 17-20 years.

Fossa has no natural enemies in nature; It is mainly people who exterminate the foss as pests are to blame for the decrease in its numbers. She has an exaggeratedly bad reputation as a ferocious predator — it is believed that she not only ruins chicken coops, but also destroys pigs , goats, and even kills people.

In 2000, the status of Fosses in the international Red Book was changed from “vulnerable” to “endangered”, since it is estimated that no more than 2500 adult individuals remain. In 2008, the status of "vulnerable species" was returned ^[1] .

• Fossa (Neopr.) . animalbox.ru - Encyclopedia of the animal world. - Description, photo and video materials. Archived February 9, 2012.
• Feline wyverra "N + 1", 04/03/2017