July 23, 2004
"Our First Capture"
by Heidi Howell

Greetings from Heidi NH and team. Friday, July 23 was an exciting day. After our breakfast of rice and beans at 6:30, the two teams headed out to check the traps in JBA and JBB. I was the scribe for JBB. We saw some beautiful birds -- Madagascar Paradise Flycatchers, Bulbuls, Common Jerrys, Hoopoe and others. We also saw the Lepi Lemur that has been a common site during our trap checks. We were quite fortunate to see a second Lepi Lemur that just moved into his new home -- a hole in a tree.

We completed our trap checks and were a little disappointed not to have captured a Fossa. As we headed back to camp, we received a radio call that a wild cat was captured in a trap located outside of JBA and JBB and they were bringing it back to camp for analysis. The team from JBA joined us at camp and we began to prepare the table for the cat's arrival. We were all very excited. Everyone was running for their cameras.

When the cat arrived, he was placed on the table and everyone gathered around. Luke took a number of anatomical measurements such as total weight, body and tail length, chest girth, neck circumference, ear length, canine diameter, genital measurements and many others. Julie collected blood and stool samples as well as any samples of possible parasites.

Until further analysis, it is not known if this was a wild cat (possibly the African wild cat) or a hybrid. Luke explained that as the wild cat population increases, the Fossa will move further into the forest due to competition for food.

Once the data was collected, the cat was returned to the location of initial capture. It was unharmed and free to return home. It was a beautiful day for us all.