# Fossa (Crytoprocta Ferox)



## Dexter (Jun 24, 2005)

I know it's a long shot, but anyone knows which zoos have this animal in the UK ?

Has anyone worked with one ?

My dream is to get near one, I don't think they are allowed as pets specially because they are vulnerable and highly protected under cites, but any chance to work with one would give me a lot of pleasure.


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

I think Lakeland Wildlife Oasis, in Cumbria have a pair


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## Cranwelli (Mar 24, 2009)

The place where I volunteer has a couple. Rare Species Conservation Centre near Sandwich.

One almost bit my finger off and I had to punch it in the nose. :-(


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## stubeanz (Mar 28, 2007)

colchester zoo have at least one i love looking out for it when i go there.... also its not illlegal to keep them as pets  no animal is illegal if you have the right licenses or legislation:2thumb:
stu


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## purpleskyes (Oct 15, 2007)

Clochester zoo has one and Belfast zoo has a pair of them. They are stunning animals:flrt:


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## Miss Lily (Oct 3, 2008)

They had some at Marwell Zoo a couple of years ago when we went. They had huge feet, lol! That's how I remember them!


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

Newquay zoo in Cornwall have a pair, was there a week ago.


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## Dexter (Jun 24, 2005)

Thanks everyone, I didn't expect to get this many replies :2thumb:

I'll investigate your tips and see if I can go over to one of these places.

I'm taking a diploma in Feline Studies which is hard work but very interesting.

The fossa caught my attention because they are descendent from some very ancient animals that lived millions of years ago and are ancestors of several families of animals we know today, and most importantly to me, the modern-day cat.


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## Dexter (Jun 24, 2005)

stubeanz said:


> also its not illlegal to keep them as pets  no animal is illegal if you have the right licenses or legislation:2thumb:
> stu


I know what you mean, trouble is that it would be nearly impossible to import one from Madagascar because of its vulnerable status, and one would have to have big enclosure with right conditions for one. They love high trees, etc. 

So I reckon only zoos can afford to keep them.

Also they are renowned for being extremely aggressive.


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## stubeanz (Mar 28, 2007)

i know exactly what your saying (most people wouldnt have the facilitys for them) but there are private keepers of fossa in the UK: victory:
stu


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## Dexter (Jun 24, 2005)

Really, I wish I know one : victory:


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## panther_87k (Feb 4, 2009)

can someone post a pic please? ive gone on google images but the only pics that come up are on foreign sites, so i dont know if the pics are of the animal ive googled :lol2: i have no idea what one looks like:blush:


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## Miss Lily (Oct 3, 2008)

Here's a pic that I took at Marwell. There may have been more than one in the enclosure, I don't remember! Strange looking thing - look at the size of those feet!:lol2:


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## carlo69 (Apr 12, 2007)

*hi*

here is a pic of the fossa


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## panther_87k (Feb 4, 2009)

thankyou people! now that ive seen those pics i have seen one before, dunno where- maybe on tv. i think theyre quite cute, very muscular looking but sleek:?


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

Don't think fossas are
Felines as
They in the stoat
Family! 
But correct me
If
I'm wrong I don't
Know
A
Lot about them.


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

There were Fossas in the computer animated movie Madagascar! Although they called them Foosas :lol2:


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## Dexter (Jun 24, 2005)

Miss Lily said:


> Here's a pic that I took at Marwell


Thanks Lily, what a great picture :2thumb:

I'm trying to get more info on the Marwell Zoo website, but it's playing up at the moment and driving me nuts.


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## Dexter (Jun 24, 2005)

animalstorey said:


> Don't think fossas are
> Felines as
> They in the stoat
> Family!
> ...


They are not felines, therefore they don't fall into the Felidae family.

Technically they are in the family of Eupleridae (madagasy carnivores). They were formerly classified under Viverridae (civets and genets) and Herpestidae (mongooses).

But they all descended from the same sort of pre-historic animals.

They are extremely important for cat lovers though due to the fact that they are living fossils of the pseudoailurus which is thought to be the first member of the modern cat family.

They have many similarities with cats such as their appearance, the retractile claws and the way they groom.

As you can see I'm a cat lover :lol2:


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

Cool!


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## glidergirl (Nov 27, 2006)

Cranwelli said:


> The place where I volunteer has a couple. Rare Species Conservation Centre near Sandwich.
> 
> One almost bit my finger off and I had to punch it in the nose. :-(


Oooh - you work there? Todd's a really good friend!


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## Dexter (Jun 24, 2005)

Who's Todd ?

By the way, I rang yesterday offering money to get some work experience with the fossa and a few other wild cats they've got there, just for a couple of days, but they haven't rung back.

Maybe they don't want my money 

Will try again later :crazy:


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## mattm (Jul 18, 2008)

Cranwelli said:


> The place where I volunteer has a couple. Rare Species Conservation Centre near Sandwich.
> 
> One almost bit my finger off and I had to punch it in the nose. :-(


Must be cool to volunteer there! I went a couple of weeks ago and saw one of the Fossa's.


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## Cranwelli (Mar 24, 2009)

glidergirl said:


> Oooh - you work there? Todd's a really good friend!


I haven't been up there for _ages _but he's excellent. He let me stay overnight to feed the pumas when they were kittens. Nothing quite like them climbing over you at 3 in the morning! :no1: I bet they're massive now. They were as strong as hell just as kittens.

On another note I just remembered a photographer who wanted a close-up of one of the fossa apparently nearly got his hand bitten off.


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## Dexter (Jun 24, 2005)

Cranwelli said:


> On another note I just remembered a photographer who wanted a close-up of one of the fossa apparently nearly got his hand bitten off.


I'd pay a grand to get my hand bitten off by a Fossa (that's how obsessed I am at the moment) :blush:


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## stubeanz (Mar 28, 2007)

Dexter said:


> Who's Todd ?
> 
> By the way, I rang yesterday offering money to get some work experience with the fossa and a few other wild cats they've got there, just for a couple of days, but they haven't rung back.
> 
> ...


Todds the owner: victory:
dont ave to pay to volunteer just ask around various zoos as they take on work experience and volunteers all the time:2thumb:
stu


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## Dexter (Jun 24, 2005)

stubeanz said:


> Todds the owner: victory:
> dont ave to pay to volunteer just ask around various zoos as they take on work experience and volunteers all the time:2thumb:
> stu


Trouble is, I have contacts with a zoo where I'll probably take a 3 month contract sometime down the line, but in this particular case, I just want some 2 or 3 days experience working closely to a few of the animals they've got there.

So I'm willing to make a generous donation because I know the costs of keeping animals is very high, and I'd be chuffed if I could be mentored about the species I'm interested in, so it could work both ways, they would be happy with the money I was going to pay and I'd be happy having a chance to be close to the animals I'm studying at present.

Most zoos that offer work experience in short term charge a lot of money. Marwell Zoo for instance, will charge you £ 350.00 for a day. London Zoo will charge you £ 250.00 to be a keeper for a day.

Trouble with both Marwell and London Zoos, is that they follow a program, and during the day you will be working with birds, reptiles, rhynos, giraffes, big cats, etc.

So that would not be beneficial to me, because at this moment in time, all I need is to work with certain animals which are very specific such as the fossa, jaguarundi, puma color, brazilian ocelot, clouded leopard, etc.

I'll call them tomorrow again, because they didn't call me back. I need to know whether it will be feasible or not because I'm currently on holidays so I can afford to travel and spend a few days away from home.


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## stubeanz (Mar 28, 2007)

ahh but keeper for a day is a paid event not work experience if you are studying then zoos will generaly take on work experience for free for a week or so as long as its to do with the animal/natural world sector.
if you want to pay thats fine aslong as you have fun just thought id help you do what you want for free hehe:2thumb:
ive never been RSCC but have heard some great things about the owner todd and importing some animals that are pretty rare in european zoos, so probably a good place to go for the experience.
stu
ps good luck with your studies n all that jazz: victory:


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## Dexter (Jun 24, 2005)

stubeanz said:


> ahh but keeper for a day is a paid event not work experience if you are studying then zoos will generaly take on work experience for free for a week or so as long as its to do with the animal/natural world sector.
> if you want to pay thats fine aslong as you have fun just thought id help you do what you want for free hehe:2thumb:
> ive never been RSCC but have heard some great things about the owner todd and importing some animals that are pretty rare in european zoos, so probably a good place to go for the experience.
> stu
> ps good luck with your studies n all that jazz: victory:


Thanks Stu, I know what you mean. 

Unfortunately they won't accept me at this moment in time because they only accept people willing to work for at least 3 weeks, and I have work commitments at the moment.

But hopefully things will work out in the future.


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## Reptile-newb (Jul 13, 2009)

stubeanz said:


> no animal is illegal if you have the right licenses or legislation:2thumb:
> stu


With the possible exception of animals that are less than 300 in number.
I shouldn't think a guy on the shelled section would be allowed to have a pinta island tortoise living in his backyard, lol


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## stubeanz (Mar 28, 2007)

Reptile-newb said:


> With the possible exception of animals that are less than 300 in number.
> I shouldn't think a guy on the shelled section would be allowed to have a pinta island tortoise living in his backyard, lol


 Bit confused as to the number thing? could you explain?
surely if he had the right legislation then he could  i said nothing about not being able to originaly get hold of them i just said when you have them you can keep them with the right legislation.
stu


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## Reptile-newb (Jul 13, 2009)

Well, there probably is legislation but it would be hell as hard to get.

It's good to have a super-rare animal involved in a breeding project to save it's species, rather than sitting around in someone's house, and I'm sure the people that distribute legislation would know this, and make it harder to achieve.


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## stubeanz (Mar 28, 2007)

back onto the subject though people that keep fossa wont be the type that have them "sitting around a house".
i dont know anything about the tortoise species to talk about but im sure that if someone was able to legal source, keep and breed them in the right conditions then DEFRA wouldnt have a problem with giving out the license to them. 
point being is that practicaly any animal can be kept if you have the appropriate licenses and any legisaltion that goes with that animal.
stu


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## Dexter (Jun 24, 2005)

I'm trying to get a license to keep a couple of 18 yo female **** sapiens who haven't bred yet, but it's very rare, probably less than 300 in the whole of the UK : victory:


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## glidergirl (Nov 27, 2006)

Cranwelli said:


> I haven't been up there for _ages _but he's excellent. He let me stay overnight to feed the pumas when they were kittens. Nothing quite like them climbing over you at 3 in the morning! :no1: I bet they're massive now. They were as strong as hell just as kittens.
> 
> On another note I just remembered a photographer who wanted a close-up of one of the fossa apparently nearly got his hand bitten off.


Sorry Dexter - am going slightly off topic again but I will get back to Fossa ... honestly!

We went about a month ago and because we know Todd and because we know the pumas he let us go and have a fuss with them! They are absolutely beautiful! The male took a bit of a liking to me though and starting trying to suckle on my jumper! Todd had to pull him off and he hooked a leg around mine (the puma that is). 

Again, because we know Todd, ages ago we went 'backstage' to look at a Fossa that was just coming to the end of quarantine, he was so funny! His shelter was a large hutch type thing and I swear it was because we weren't paying him attention he dragged this HUGE boulder out of the hutch and flicked it around with his front legs between his back legs. When he got bored he put it back in his hutch! 

The RSCC also has two colours of Jaguarundi, the browny colour and a beautiful red one! There are quite a few species of cat there now. 

Fossa:










Not a very good pic of the Jaguarundi thanks to the wire on the enclosure, but it gives you a good idea of how beautiful the colour is:










And my new best friend the male Puma. :flrt:


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## purpleskyes (Oct 15, 2007)

glidergirl said:


> Not a very good pic of the Jaguarundi thanks to the wire on the enclosure, but it gives you a good idea of how beautiful the colour is:
> 
> image


So thats what they look like, They have one of these at Belfast zoo and I have been there probably 100 times and only caught a 2 second glance as it ran back into its enclosure. Your so lucky getting to go behind the scenes, I am starting college next month to do an animal management course hopefully the first step on the road to becoming a keeper.


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## Cranwelli (Mar 24, 2009)

glidergirl said:


> And my new best friend the male Puma. :flrt:


Blimey! I wouldn't want to cuddle him in the early hours anymore. 

I remember Todd saying he preferred the female because it was powerful but more needy but I doubt he says that now! I went up a little while ago and saw the New Guinea singing dogs. It was weird because I used to spend a lot of time near that lemur cage so when I first saw the dogs under the bridge they looked like they had escaped!


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## glidergirl (Nov 27, 2006)

purpleskyes said:


> So thats what they look like, They have one of these at Belfast zoo and I have been there probably 100 times and only caught a 2 second glance as it ran back into its enclosure. Your so lucky getting to go behind the scenes, I am starting college next month to do an animal management course hopefully the first step on the road to becoming a keeper.


They are very shy, and they make the most unusual sounds! Here's a piccie of the brown Jaguarundi:












Cranwelli said:


> Blimey! I wouldn't want to cuddle him in the early hours anymore.
> 
> I remember Todd saying he preferred the female because it was powerful but more needy but I doubt he says that now! I went up a little while ago and saw the New Guinea singing dogs. It was weird because I used to spend a lot of time near that lemur cage so when I first saw the dogs under the bridge they looked like they had escaped!


I would take the male Puma without a second thought! As I was scratching his shoulder he was purring his head off! I'm absolutely smitten, when we walked down the side of the cage he was following, when we reached the public end of the cage he was there waiting for me! When we walked back he followed me again and was waiting by the trap gate for me! We went on to the cambodian hut thing and he jumped up to the top of the cage to be level with me! It was so bizarre! 

The NG Singing Dogs are so friendly, they were just like domestic dogs.


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## Dexter (Jun 24, 2005)

Thanks for the comments and great pictures : victory:


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## stubeanz (Mar 28, 2007)

that red jaguarundi is beautiful never seen anything like it... is it a different locality or do they just occur naturaly?
stu


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## Dexter (Jun 24, 2005)

The jaguarundi is a type of puma. If you want to read more about it, go to:

Jaguarundi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Kaiit (Aug 17, 2009)

Hm, on the topic of fossas again, Colchester Zoo do not have theirs any more. This site, however, was written by their keeper who studied the animals as well as working with them. There's a lot of information and pictures on Colchester's old fossas there :]


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## Dexter (Jun 24, 2005)

Kaiit said:


> Hm, on the topic of fossas again, Colchester Zoo do not have theirs any more. This site, however, was written by their keeper who studied the animals as well as working with them. There's a lot of information and pictures on Colchester's old fossas there :]


Thanks Kait, but where have the fossas gone to ?


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## Miss Lily (Oct 3, 2008)

Dexter said:


> Thanks Lily, what a great picture :2thumb:


Thanks! Took a load of pics of random critters! Got a couple of bad pics of chams too, but I wasn't obsessed by them when we went, now I want to go back and sit in the reptile house all day! :lol2:


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