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HIGH INCIDENCE OF REPRODUCTIVE DISORDERS IN CAPTIVE FOSSAS
(CRYPTOPROCTA FEROX)
VOGLER BR1, GÖRITZ F1, FRITSCH G1, GARCIA HARTMANN M3, HERMES R1,
JEWGENOW K1, POZIVIL V2, OCHS A4, WINKLER A3 AND HILDEBRANDT TB1
1Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany;
vogler@izw-berlin.de
2Zoologická zahrada Ústí nad Labem, Drázd’anská 23, 400 07 Ústí nad Labem, Czeck Republic
3Zoo Duisburg AG, Mülheimer Straße 273, 47058 Duisburg-Kaiserberg, Germany
4 Zoologischer Garten Berlin AG, Hardenbergplatz 8, 10787 Berlin, Germany
Introduction
The island of Madagascar is famous for its high number of endemic species: approximately 80% of the
flora and fauna are unique (USAID Environmental Program, Madagascar Mission). All 8 Malagasy
carnivore species are endemic to the island. Five species are classified as Herpestidae and two
species are grouped within the Viverridae. The fossa is commonly classified as a Viverrid
(WOZENCRAFT 1989), but YODER et al. (2003) considered it to be a Herpestid.
As the main predator on the island, the fossa is the only enemy of large lemur species and therefore
plays a crucial role in the Malagasy ecosystems. Due to a number of causes including the
fragmentation of habitat and human interference, the species is now considered as endangered
(IUCN Red Data Book, 2002) and listet in CITES Appendix II.
Even though the Fossa is the best-described Malagasy carnivore, there is still very little known about
its reproductive biology. The fossa was first described by BENNETT in 1833. Since then, the majority of
research activities have focussed on the behaviour and the gross anatomy of the fossa.
The first scientific approach towards studying the reproductive morphology of the fossa was
undertaken by LÖNNBERG (1902), followed by VOSSELER (1929). Both described the postmortem
examination of a single female animal.
HAWKINS et al. (2002) described a transient masculinization in juvenile wild female fossas and thus
provides some evidence of this phenomenon in mammals for the first time. These authors report on an
enlarged, spinescent clitoris supported by an ossicle, as also described by LÖNNBERG (1902) before. It
is assumed, that these features, including the “os clitoris”, regress again, when the animal reaches
maturity (HAWKINS et al., 2002).
The present study concentrated on the characterization of the reproductive morphology of male and
female fossas examined by ultrasound (GOERITZ 1996, HILDEBRANDT et al. 1998, 2000) and computed
tomography (FRITSCH et al., 2003) with a main focus on the reproductive health of captive individuals.
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