ABILENE, Texas — The Abilene Zoo announced Wednesday morning that its 9-year-old fossa, Rico, died suddenly and unexpectedly.
"It is with great sadness we announce the sudden and unexpected passing of 9-year-old fossa, Rico. Monday September 4th he was found unresponsive early in the morning by his keepers," the zoo said on its Facebook page.
A necropsy was performed and zoo officials are waiting on results to determine Rico's cause of death.
Rico was born July 28, 2014, at the Denver Zoo. He was moved to Abilene Zoo in 2022 as part of a species survival plan recommendation for breeding.
The zoo said Rico was an amazing ambassador for his species helping to educate Abilene about the largest carnivore from the island of Madagascar. Fossas' amazing agility makes them a superb ambush predator, but habitat loss has negatively impacted Madagascar and the many species that call the island home.
"Rico in particular might not have been the most fossa of fossas. He seemed to prefer to relax and leave the high energy antics to female fossa Lavavolo, and now their pups," the zoo said. "His legacy lies in the fact he and Lavavolo were successful in producing three offspring June 19th. These 11 week old pups are growing quickly and learning from their mother all of the ways a fossa can navigate their forest environment. The female is solely responsible for raising their young as the fossa typically prefers to live a solitary life."
One of the things his team adored about him is the way he reacted to smells. Any item covered in the smell of other carnivores or hoofstock from around zoo had him rolling around in it.
“Fossas are endangered in their native home of Madagascar,” Abilene zoo keeper, Marissa Ballard, said in a June 26, 2023, release from the zoo.
Currently, there are only 2,500 fossa left in the wild.
