Fossa arrives at the Charles Paddock Zoo
Shelby the fossa.
– The Charles Paddock Zoo has announced the arrival of “Shelby,” a 13-year-old female fossa. The fossa is now on exhibit and can be seen by watchful visitors in time for the last weekend of the Spring Festival.
Shelby, a Fossa Cryptoptocta ferox, came to Charles Paddock from the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens through the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan. Fossa lifespans are unknown in the wild but are known to live to up to 20 years in zoos. Although Shelby looks like a small cat or even a weasel, she is most closely related to a mongoose or civet.
The fossa is native only to the island nation of Madagascar off the coast of Africa and are the largest carnivores there. The locals pronounce the name “foo-sa” and “foosh.” Shelby loves exploring all parts of her new habitat, as the fossa are just as comfortable in trees as they are on the ground. Being the largest predator and very agile in trees, their diets mainly consist of lemurs (don’t worry, they are in a separate exhibit!), but they’ll eat anything from small mammals to fish and birds.
The fossa can be extremely smelly since they use scent as their main form of communication and do most of their vocalizing during mating season and pup season. The fossa is classified as vulnerable with only about 2,500 left in the wilderness. The low numbers are due to loss of habitat, competition for food with introduced species, and diseases like rabies, as well as threats from the villagers who see them as vermin.
Visit the zoo this weekend and enjoy the remaining days of the Spring Festival and learn all about Shelby the fossa, as she will be the surprise for our animal feedings at 11 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Plus, remember to mark your calendar for the “Party for the Planet” Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 20 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. This family event will focus on natural resource conservation and the global and local protection of animals and plants and will be a fun day for children of all ages, with interactive adventures, hands-on activities, exhibits by sustainability-conscious businesses, as well as providing many educational demonstrations like water conservation, beekeeping, and more. Food trucks will be on-site.
Spring Festival and Party for the Planet are included with general admission. Tickets are $13 for adults age 13+, $11 for seniors age 65+, $8 for children 5-12, $5 for children 3-4, and free for kids two and under. For information, go to www.charlespaddockzoo.org or call the zoo at (805) 461-5080.
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