Is it a cat?

When you look at a fossa, you might think it is a type of cat. In some languages, the fossa is also called a ferret cat. Yet it is not related to the cat or ferret. Fossas belong in their own group. Their closest relatives are the mongooses.

A born climber

Fossas can climb very well. They have sharp claws and a long tail for balance. They jump quickly from branch to branch and from tree to tree. They can even crawl upside down on the underside of a branch.

Disappeared

Fossas are found only on Madagascar. On this large island, almost 90% of the forest has disappeared. People cut down the trees for wood or burn the forest to grow food. As a result, the fossa is facing extinction. There are now probably only about 2,500 fossas left in the wild.

Secretive animals

There are still many things we don't know about fossas. That's because so few still live in the wild. But also because they are active mostly at night. Fossas live alone and can walk up to 25 kilometers in a day. All in all, this makes the fossa a very difficult animal to study.

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