<i>The 'weird' predatory fossa of Madagascar is threatened</i>

It is one of the most unusual of all big predators, but the odd-looking, cat-like fossa, the largest carnivore on the island of Madagascar, faces an uncertain future.
Few fossa can now be found in a place that was once a stronghold, as villagers hunt the animal as bushmeat and in a bid to protect their own livestock, which the fossa eats.
Its population may be declining rapidly, says one of the few scientists to have studied it in the wild, and it could already be critically endangered.
Fossa are a highly specialised predator.
Secretive and cat-like, they are expert climbers and well equipped for chasing down lemurs in the forest, preying on even the largest lemur species.
However, very little is known about them, as only a handful of scientists have been able to study fossa closely in the wild.
Little is also known about how many fossa exist on Madagascar, with official estimates suggesting that fewer than 2500 survive and the animal should be considered as Endangered.
But according to one scientist studying it, the fossa could be in an even more perilous state.
Ms Mia-Lana Lührs is currently studying the fossa for her PhD at Germany's University of Göttingen and the German Primate Center.
Within the past three years, she has recorded a substantial fall in the numbers of fossa living in Kirindy, a reserve within forests on the west of the island.
Habitat destruction is one significant cause of the fossa's recent decline reason.
But the large predator is also coming into conflict with people, as it leaves the dwindling forest in search of food.