Fossa: the Madagascar lion (8 photos)

There are no cats in Madagascar. And yet, something skulks in the shadows, gracefully arching its back. Eyes glitter in the darkness, causing the lemurs to huddle together and scream in terror. And while there are no cats in Madagascar, there are fossas. And they are apex predators, unmatched by any of the locals.





A Madagascar demon incarnate.

The fossa resembles a small, stocky puma. It weighs 7-12 kg. It has an elongated, sturdy body with a long, graceful tail and short, yet very tenacious paws, with muscles rippling beneath their short fur. And it has the look of a wild cat, ready to devour you alive. It's even stranger to realize that the fossa's closest relatives are mongooses and hyenas, which were previously considered related to dogs!



No matter how much you work out, you'll never be as beautiful...





The fossa's appearance is truly unique. You can't see either a dog or a cat in this creature. The fossa belongs to a separate family of carnivorous mammals—the Madagascar civets.

The fossa is so different from its relatives because while hyenas were adapting to life in the savannas and mongooses were learning to hunt snakes, it was exploring the dense forests of Madagascar. The predator quickly developed a taste for the forests, and the multi-level forests with their vast arboreal population became its home.



Yes, the fossa cub is hanging upside down and doing just fine. It immediately brings to mind domestic cats, who can't climb down trees without help.

The fossa was especially taken with lemurs. The pseudocat's diet consists of approximately 50% primates, and for them, the fossa is a real nightmare. Yes, they can escape from it, because primates are more agile and can jump far; they can simply leap from tree to tree and disappear. But there's no place in the Madagascar forests that the fossa can't reach. Sooner or later, it will reach them.



With such flexibility, they can squeeze through almost anything.



The Fossa and its Siesta.

To avoid a tragic fate, lemurs must always be on guard. Fossas don't have a strict daily routine; they hunt at any time, so they can attack poor primates late at night, at dawn, or even at midday. Needless to say, no creature on the planet can be constantly on guard. So it's no surprise that the mere scent of a fossa sends lemurs into a frenzy.



And the cartoon "Madagascar" has seriously tarnished the fossa's reputation. It makes the cruel and calculating predators look like naive fools.

However, despite all their special abilities and power over lower primates, fossas are unable to defend their forests from the great apes, who are clearing them hectare after hectare. Although they are not hunted directly, their numbers are declining along with the forest cover. This is very unfortunate, as apex predators, even small ones, are never very numerous. Even if their extinction can be reversed—and for now, it is entirely reversible—restoring their genetic diversity will take centuries, if not millennia.



People online often ask: can I have a fossa as a pet? Answer: no, because it is untamable, dangerous for owners, and also illegal in most countries.