MATING OCCURS IN
SEPTEMBER AND
OCTOBER, AND YOUNG ARE BORN IN A DEN IN DECEMBER AND JANUARY AFTER A
THREE
MONTH GESTATION PERIOD AT BIRTH THE TWO TO FOUR YOUNG WEIGH 100 GRAMS
EACH
THEY ARE ALTRICIAL, BEING TOOTHLESS AND BLIND, BUT FURRED AT FOUR
AND A HALF MONTH A YOUNG FOSSA IS WEANED AND VENTURES OUT OF THE
DEN
THE YOUNG FOSSA LEAVES ITS MOTHER WHEN IT REACHES FIFTEEN TO TWENTY
MONTHS
OF AGE AND BECOMES SEXUALLY MATURE AT FOUR YEARS OF AGE WHILE THE
LIFE SPAN OF THE FOSSA HAS NOT BEEN STUDIED IN THE WILD, ONE SPECIMEN
LIVED
TWENTY YEARS IN CAPTIVITY.
A MOTHER FOSSA AND HER TWO CUBS
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