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If you saw the animated movie “Madagascar,” you might remember the fosas.

They were the ones hunting lemurs.

Now, you can see the rare animals up close at the Naples Zoo off Goodlette-Frank Road. A new exhibit that opens today has two of the toothy, chocolate-brown animals that look a bit like the big cats.

“It’s like you took a Florida panther and a mongoose and you combined them,” said Tim Tetzlaff, the zoo’s director of conservation and communications.

The fosa is Madagascar’s largest carnivore. And, yes, it really does love to eat lemurs. In the wild, lemurs are about half the fosa’s diet, Tetzlaff said.

“They are freaky fast in the trees,” he said. “If you want to eat a lemur, you’ve got to be quick.”

But unlike in the movie, the real fosas don’t travel around in giant herds.

There is still a lot to learn about the secretive fosas, but the zoo hopes to foster a better understanding of them through the interactive exhibit. Even the animal’s name has a bit of mystery to it. Some call it a “foose,” while others say it’s a “foosh,” or “foo-sah.”

There are only 50 fosas in the country. Less than 2,500 remain in the wild, primarily because agriculture has taken over their habitat on the island nation of Madagascar, Tetzlaff said.

“This is the first time that we’ve had them and we’re the only zoo in Florida to have them,” he said.

The animals spent a few months in quarantine at the zoo before moving into their new exhibit, which allows close-up viewings through glass windows. Until today, barricades kept them from being seen.

One of the fosas came from the Cleveland Zoo in Ohio and the other from the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo in Indiana. Both are males.

Fosas can weigh 15 to 30 pounds or even more and are about 5 1/2 feet long.

A members-only preview of the animals is scheduled for this morning before the zoo opens. During the event, Charlie Welch, a research scientist with the Duke University Lemur Center who has worked in Madagascar for years, will tell stories about fosas and their native island.

The zoo sought out the animals in part because of its strong involvement in conservation efforts for Madagascar, the world’s fourth-largest island situated off the southeast coast of Africa.

The zoo is also supporting educational initiatives by Luke Dollar, a leading fosa researcher, on Madagascar to help the animals in the wild.

There are plans to start a fosa breeding program at the zoo, but that is a few years off because the female it plans to use hasn’t even been born yet.

The zoo spent about $115,000 on the new exhibit, which was made possible through a donation by the Halverstadt family. It’s the second new exhibit to open since the landmark attraction became a nonprofit. The other one is Leopard Rock, where the spotted cats roam around a life-like African kopje rock and can be seen up-close through seven-foot-high glass panels.

David Tetzlaff, zoo director, said he hopes everyone is as enamored as he is with the fosas. He first saw them at the Cleveland Zoo a few years ago, and his family had to drag him away from the exhibit.

“There is nothing like them,” he said. “They have an amazing stocking ability and they’ve got incredible leaping abilities. I have seen them jump six feet up, like a cat would, without any effort.”

He said seeing new exhibits open is one of the best parts of his job. While he dreams up the ideas, others have to design and build what he creates in his mind, he said.

“This is the fun stuff,” Tetzlaff said.

Another exhibit for Florida black bears is in the works. But it’s still in the planning stages.

It’s a much bigger and more detailed project and will cost $600,000 or $700,000. About half the money has been raised and construction could begin this fall.

As zoo-goers get their first peek at the fosas this weekend, the attraction also plans some Fourth of July fun for its animals.

Through Monday, animals will get to play with firecrackers — well, sort of. They’ll get giant cardboard tubes decorated in red, white, and blue stuffed with their favorite treats.

Military personnel will also get free admission through the long holiday weekend.

Though the local economy is tough, David Tetzlaff said the zoo is doing well this year — and he hopes the trend will continue with another new exhibit opening.

Visitation in June was flat but it was up in the first five months of the year, he said.

“With all these concerns in the economy, we can’t complain,” Tetzlaff said. “We are happy.”

In 2007, the zoo had one of the best years in its history, attracting 240,000 visitors.