Madagascar's Mysterious Fossa | National Geographic

Madagascar's top predator is a mysterious cat-like creature called the fossa. But dogs and humans are threatening its very existence. National Geographic's Luke Dollar investigates.

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Written and edited by Jasmine Rao, School of Communication, American University

Madagascar's Mysterious Fossa | National Geographic

National Geographic

[kbsh]

I did not know that dogs were a problem in Madagascar. Fascinating place. Dr. Dollar is very interesting. Keep up the good work.

Fossa is my cats name. We got her around the premier of the first Madagascar.

[michellejcoker]

This is a great informative video. Long Live the Fossa

[howgemyam]

"THE FOSSA!! THE FOSSA ARE ATTACKING!!"
*scream in panic and jumped out to the window*

[MjrLeegInfidel]

Danny McBride works for National Geographic!

[Gilgamesh]

Also, learning how to manage an ecology in a developing country such as Madagascar is a good learning experience on how to manage ecologies on a larger scale - like trying to conduct a unified preservation plan of elephant populations across multiple countries.

[rnfbd]

i pity this guy, he seems genuinely concerned and look so sad D: .

[AUGundam]

"We can't let that

Considering the news I've read throughout the webs regarding various areas across the world, I'd like to say that We won't let that happen. A trend is showing in favor of that.

[jungian]

Such a delicate balance .. nice work :)
Strange looking creature .

[breemoore]

I like the animations. they were cool
and I've never heard of the fossa

[weirdduck]

I quite like the animation in this video. Bravo!

[joseluiscastrejonm.]

I wish good luck for all of Madagascar's foosa 🐾

[Modzey]

Actually the fossa is the biggest mammalian carnivore on the island. The biggest overall carnivore in Madagascar is the Nile crocodile.

[bitbythehorsebug]

I am a veterinary technician and I would LOVE to come help out with the spay neuter clinics to give these fabulous Fossa a fighting chance! Is there a way that I can do that!?

[jyrao]

For those of you who were wondering, Erika Bernetich did all of the animation for this piece.

[SAMMIsLIFE]

This dude is awesome. Maybe rehome the dogs overseas? They get good homes and the fossa get to survive, a win win! But ik it can be hard to find homes for a lot of dogs..theres shelters all over the place that are full and dogs are dying because of it..people need to stop breeding dogs and feral/stray dogs need to be spayed and neutered.

[Gilgamesh]

Not humanity as a whole, no, no great impact to the global ecology. But the island of Madagascar? Yea, probably big impact there - it's an apex predator after all and eliminating apex predators usually creates BIG problems down the food chain and could possibly mess up the ecology of Madagascar which impacts humans there. Also, don't you think that there's a moral obligation to assist a species for future generations? There's billions of us and 3000 of them.

[godduss]

Less people, less dogs. The video did say the humans are getting these dogs then letting them run wild.

[AnandaPriyadharshan]

nope, nothing is easy, but that's the only logical and practical way to preserve the fossas and help them get in to a balance... or may be if the world ends "in 2012" the earth will automatically balance it self.. (without humans polluting it)

[Gilgamesh]

Certainly to compare the US against Denmark is a little unfair. However, this is America. We're a nation where we pride ourselves on getting things done when we set our minds to it and then making money from that thing. If the US were to have a concentrated, focused energy policy, it is ABSOLUTELY possible that within 100 years, we could significantly reduce our fossil fuel reliance.