ABILENE, Texas — If you've never heard of a fossa, Abilene Zoo would soon like to get you acquainted.
The zoo announced the birth of three fossa pups June 19, to parents Rico and Lavavolo, “Volo”. This marks the first fossa births at Abilene Zoo.
Volo made her home in Abilene after the opening of the Madagascar exhibit in 2021, and was followed shortly after by Rico in 2022. In the wild the fossa can only be found in Madagascar, an African island in the Indian Ocean, and it’s estimated that 90% of their natural habitat is gone.
“These fossas are special to the Abilene Community,” said Zoo Director Jesse Pottebaum. “Community support brought this majestic species here during a challenging time. And this is a species that a lot of people don’t even know about. A lot of zoos don’t have them, but we have them in Abilene and we’re sharing their conservation story about how endangered they are.”
According to an Abilene Zoo press release, fossas are generally solitary animals except during breeding season. Earlier this year Volo began vocalizing to Rico, indicating her readiness to mate. Following a 90-day gestation period Volo successfully gave birth to three pups, two males and one female. Born blind, they will not open their eyes for the 1st two weeks and will stay in their den until they are four to five months old.
“Fossas are endangered in their native home of Madagascar.” said Abilene zoo keeper, Marissa Ballard. “That makes this an extra exciting birth. Not only will these pups be great ambassadors for their species, we know that if their population declines more in the wild, we have successful breeding plans in place to replenish that wild population.”
As Volo takes on sole responsibility of caring for the young pups over the next few months, the parents have gone back to being solitary.
