Animals Anonymous: Fossa and Fanaloka

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This first Animals Anonymous of 2017 will once more return to Madagascar to discuss two of its most fascinating endemic predators; The Fossa and Fanaloka. They are both descendants from the Malagasy Carnivores group, though both share some physical traits which has made classifying them under a family a difficulty in the past.


The Fossa is an animal with a glossy reddish-brown fur, rounded, small ears and mesmerizing eyes. Individuals have been found to measure nearly 2 meters (6 ft) in length from nose to the tip of their tail - which can measure almost half this size. They are commonly slender and very agile climbers. Their carnivore diet in an ecosystem with many prey species - namely, Lemurs - living in the trees, this is no surprise, though there is a variety of native species which occupy the ground floor.

Fossa by PyroStyxHungry fossa. by Ravenith
The Prowling Fossa by PictureByPali

The Fossa has evolved separately from other alike species many millions of years ago, and though it shares the appearance of a feline, and even some resemblance to Mongoose and Xivet species, their separate evolvement has classified both the Fossa and Fanaloka as a separate species of <e href= "a-z-animals.com/animals/fossa/">Malagasy carnivores.

Fossa by InnaliFossa by JessieDrawzFossa by KrisVlad
Fossa by AndreasAvesterThe Stare by darkSoul4Life

As the Fossa mostly spends its time in the treetops, their shrinking habitat has caused problems for the Fossa population. Where historically they could be found all over the island, these days they are restricted to small patches of forest. Another threat to their survival is retaliatory or preventive hunting and killing of Fossa by farmers who fear for their livelihood.

Fossa by rogerdhallFossa by WillemSvdMerwe
Shady Fossa by robbobert

Fossas are normally solitary animals, though they can be found in pairs or groups during mating season. A female will take care of pups whom will only reach adult size after two years of age, and will not have their first offspring till they arefour years of age. There have been rare sights of three male Fossas hunting one of the larger Lemur species on the island, chasing the animal, where they are more commonly regarded as mostly an ambush hunter.

Fossa by BooYehFossa by UkkiRainbow
Fossa by MonsterBrand

The shrinking size of the habitat of the Fossa is a decided disadvantage for their survival, as a study has found they can traverse relatively large territories to locate a meal. Furthermore, Madagascar is known to have a lean season in the winter, when food is scarce. As Fossa habitat is currently very limited, all these Fossas have to compete in the same territory for food, making for an overall worse physical condition of the animals, as their prey species will suffer a lean season at the same time. This competition for food can also adversely impact the survival rate of their pups.


The Fanaloka is decidedly smaller than the Fossa, about the size of a domestic cat, with a stocky body, short legs and a sharply pointed nose, and a striped fur. As such, its quite the physical opposite of the Fossa, but the only other member in the family of Malagasy carnivores. Their striped coat and appearances have earned them the alternative name of Malagasy Civet, to whom they were presumed to be related.


Learning Week 6 - Malagasy Civet by Kaiodi
Fanaloka by MantisVerde

The Fanaloka is nocturnal and inhabits the forest floor where it hunts small Tenrecs, rodents, birds, frogs and other prey within its reach, not excluding fruit from their diet. They usually spend the day sleeping, hidden away in hollow trees, fallen logs or in crevices between rocks. Similarly to some Lemur species, they are able to store a fat reserve in their tail to help them survive the lean season.

Malagasy Civet by Plump-Lemmus

Differently from the Fossa, Fanaloka are not solitary, but usually live in pairs and as such, defend their territory from interlopers. They only have a single pup per litter, which is born highly developed with open eyes, and will walk after three days, though it will take longer to develop after this stage. Both male and female will care for the young, which will be ready to leave its parents' territory at one year of age.

Malagasy civet adoptable by OhMyAdoptsMirrors - speed paint video by t1sk1jukka

Like the Fossa, they could historically be found across the island, though this habitat has been significantly reduced due to human settlement and converting forest to agriculture. As such, they can now only be found in small patches of land. This is detrimental to their survival as they were wont to span a large territory as a pair, and they have to compete with other predators in their reduced habitat, from Fossa to domesticated cats and dogs, and non-native species such as the introduced Indian Civet.

Malagasy Carnivores - Fanaloka by Beliar2007Fanaloka by jaffa-tamarin

Despite being predators, they are hunted for subsistence food by humans living near the borders of their habitat. Studies have also concluded that Fanaloka do not fare well in degraded forest areas, but need intact forests for their subsistence, a commodity which is growing more scarce every year. Their plight, along with that of the Fossa and many Malagasy animals, is becoming more serious as they only occur on Madagascar, which is after all, an island.

On the baby news front...


Fossa births aren't overly common, but Denver Zoo celebrated the birth of their first Fossa pup in 2014. Though the little one is halfway to its adult size already, sharing a photo of the pup at three months old is hard to resist.


The same goes for Fanaloka births, but one place has proven rather successful - two years in a row - namely, the RSCC. The Rare Species Conservation Center in Sandwich is the only European facility where you can see these wonderful animals in captivity. Though the RSCC officially closed to the public in August 2015 due to a lack of funds, they still continue with a reduced breeding programme (and is available for private tours and event bookings).


Source: Facebook: Rare Species Conservation Center.
Left: a very young Fanaloka, born in June, photographed early July of 2016. Right: 8-week-old Fanaloka born in 2015.


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Malintra-Shadowmoon's avatar
This one is great. I really enjoy it :)