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Two Fossa Babies Born at Omaha's Zoo

Posted on: Thursday, 20 March 2008, 15:00 CDT

Two rare fossa pups are now on display in the nursery at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo.

The pups were part of the first litter of fossa born at the zoo.

Their mother gave birth to three pups on Jan. 31 and cared for them for five days, said Mandi Olsen, supervisor of the zoo's Desert Dome.

Then the mother appeared nervous -- and ate one of the pups, as some carnivores are known to do.

That's when zoo staff and volunteers, on 24-hour vigil since the pups' birth, took the pups to the nursery. At the time, they weighed about three ounces. Now they weigh about 1 3/4 pounds each.

The pups look and sound a lot like kittens, but fossa are more closely related to weasels than to cats, according to the zoo.

The fossa are native to the island of Madagascar, off the coast of Africa. They eat insects, amphibians, reptiles and small mammals. The zoo has done extensive research on the island's animals and plants.

As they climbed up the arms of zoo staff this morning, the pups resembled monkeys.

"They're very sweet and purr when you feed them," said Sarah Dankof, supervisor of the nursery. "Last week they started playing, in slow motion. They haven't quite figured it out."

There are about 50 fossa in the United States, Olsen said. They are on display at fewer than 20 zoos.

The Omaha zoo also has two adult male fossa and one female -- the pups' mother. The young fossa will eventually go on display in the Kingdoms of the Night exhibit.

Source: Omaha World-Herald

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