Fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) Fact Sheet: Distribution & Habitat

Madagascar (from Hawkins and Dollar 2008 unless otherwise noted)

• Nearly island-wide distribution
• No longer present in much of the central, high plateau
• Present only in small forest “islands” in the country’s interior (Goodman 2009)

Forest dwellers (from Hawkins and Dollar 2008 unless otherwise noted)

• Present in nearly all forest types
• Rainforests, savoka (humid forests), montane forests, and spiny desert forests
• Most often associated with intact forests
• Inhabits fragments that are in close proximity to an intact forest (Gerber et al. 2012a)
• Avoids fragments >15 km (9.3 mi) from an intact forest
•  Transient in non-forest habitat; may pass through such areas
• Absent from regions where the forest has been cleared
• Arboreal and terrestrial
• Commonly in trees and on the ground
• Some populations live in regions above treeline

Regional climatic characteristics (from Goodman 2009)

• Live in the driest and wettest areas of Madagascar
• Driest zones with annual rainfall as low as 400 mm/year (15.7 in/year)
• Wettest zones receive >6,000 mm/year (236 in/year)

Elevation range

• 0-2,600 m (0-8,530 ft) (Hawkins and Dollar 2008)
•  Population densities tend to decrease with increasing elevation (Goodman 2009)

Fossa (Cryptoprotca ferox) distribution.  Adapted from www-d.-maps.com according to IUCN fact sheet. Click here or on map for detailed distribution (IUCN).

Gerber et al. (2012a)
Gerber et al. (2012b)
Goodman (2009)
Hawkins and Dollar (2008)