Capture of our first fossa
by Elise Jeffery
June 27, 2005

It is 8.15AM and Jack and I are waiting at camp for the arrival of our first captured fossa. I am beside myself with excitement. It is difficult to describe the anticipation. Even though this is only day 4 of our expedition fieldwork, I was already wondering if we would capture a fossa here. We haven’t been seeing as much wildlife (lemurs and birds) as teams have in past years. To walk all of the grid checks twice a day for 10 days without a result would’ve been disappointing and although we may have been partly expecting it, in the bottom of our hearts we all expected to see a fossa.
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It is 9.50AM and the fossa has been given the reversal for the anesthetic and placed in the holding cage for return to the capture site. It is an absolutely beautiful animal. So sleek and smooth with a gorgeous long tail (not unlike a kangaroo tail ). The pads on its feet are just superb and as smooth as the softest leather. It is a heathy male approximately 2.5 years old which is encouraging for the status of the population and for the health of the Ankarafantsika National Park.
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Highlight of the afternoon was the release of the fossa back at the capture site. We all had our cameras poised and focused at the cage entrance for the millisecond when the fossa sprints from the trap when opened. He did zip out but then proceeded to meander down the trail, marking his territory as he went in a very relaxed casual manner. It was reassuring that the trapping and processing didn’t bother him in the slightest.