First Encounter
by Harilala Rakotomanana
July 12, 2005

MY FIRST TIME TO ENCOUNTER FOSSA OUTDOORS, IN KIRINDY MITEA FOREST

Kirindy Mitea forest is part of Madagascar Western Domain. A dry deciduous forest characterizes this area. I was there 4 years ago with the Foss team to trap all available carnivores in this forest. As the weather is very hot there, we got an early start in the morning. I mean about 4 o’clock! After 10 minutes of walking, we saw a couple of fossa coming towards us, at about 400 meters of distance. I was at the same time happy an afraid. Afraid because I heard a story about fossa attacking a woman who tried to save her chicken while the fossa ate it, and the woman lost one ear. I was happy because I never expected to meet a fossa in the open, because this animal is very ferocious. Imagine my happiness! When we saw them, my friend told me to stop walking and s! tand up without doing any gesture to avoid the fossa attack: his grandfather’s advice. So we stood up. The fossas observed us at about 200 meters of distance, where they stopped to walk. After 3 minutes, they lift the big trail, ran away by crossing the forest. Fossas are in high abundance in this region, so they are easy to find. We will be back there next month!