
Here is a comparison of these two.
Fossa Facts and Information
- Fossas looks like a cat and closely related to mongoose family having a genus Cryptoprocta.
- Body of fossa is long slender type having an average length up to 5 ft including body and tail, with the average weight up to 8 kg.
- Male fossa is larger than female.
- They are found in the forest of Madagascar near Indian Ocean.
- Fossa is a solitary animal and like to live alone on trees and on the ground.
- In the wild, fossa has an average lifespan of 15 years in wild and 20 years in captivity.
- Fossas have a very sharp claw which helps them to destroy their prey and also helps them to climb the tree.
- For mating with female jaguarundi, male jaguarundi often fights with another male and they become very aggressive. Winner of the fight between two males will have the female for mating.
- Because of habitat loss, fossas are in the endangered status.
- Fossa is the apex predator of Madagascar forest and has a variety of prey.
- Mainly hunt lemurs and there are 30 species of lemurs in Madagascar which fossa feed on.
- At first look it is difficult to tell whether they are from cat family or mongoose family.
- Most of the time they spend their time on the tree and they use their tail like acrobats on the tree.
- Fossa is a very speedy runner and having an amazing sense of eyesight, hearing and smell.
- Fossa has the average gestation period of 88 days and they give birth from 2 to 4 litter. In rare case some time they can give 1 to 6 baby fossas.
Jaguarundi Facts and Information
- Jaguarundi is a small wild felid of Puma genus from a Felidae family.
- It is found in central and southern America.
- Jaguarundi can weigh up to 4 kg to 9 kg depends upon their natural habitat and prey.
- Male jaguarundi is larger than female.
- Like fossa, jaguarundi is also a solitary hunter and can travel long for searching their prey if they didn’t find them nearby.
- Jaguarundi has extensive body with long tail and small legs.
- They are very good tree climbers but they hunt their prey on ground only. Usually, they hunt only in day time rather than night.
- On birth baby jaguarundi or kitten has the spots on their whole body and when they grow up then spot disappears automatically like in cougars.
- Gestation period for jaguarundi is of 72 days and they give birth from 2 to 4 kittens.
- Average lifespan for jaguarundi is of 8 years and in captivity they can live up to 14 years.
- Despite of having short legs, jaguarundi is able to jump 4 ft to 6 ft in air to catch birds or a prey sitting on tree.
- They usually feed on rodents, fish, reptiles, rabbits and other small animals.
- At one time they were used to control the increasing population of rodents in Central America by villagers.
Fossa vs. Jaguarundi Comparison Table
The duel between Fossa and Jaguarundi
This is a very close encounter and very difficult to tell who is going to win the fight because they have never met each other because of distinct habitat but according to wild animal experts, fossa will win if they will meet each other in head-to-head fight. But it is a tuff task for Fossa to beat or kill Jaguarundi because both have almost same physical measurements.