World Anteater Day- November 19

​Written By: Aimee Turcotte
When you think of Giant Anteaters (Myrmecophaga Tridactyla), what do you see? These animals were called Ant Bears because of their size and insectivorous (feeding on insects) diet (2.). We certainly do not see Giant Anteaters in Connecticut, so you would only know what Giant Anteaters look like by seeing them in zoos, out in the wild in South America, or by researching them.

If you have not seen a Giant Anteater before, I can testify that these animals are very intriguing. These animals have elongated snouts and tongues up to a third of their body length that allows them to eat termites living on the forest floor (2.). Giant Anteaters can occasionally dine on ripe fruit as well, such as oranges. These animals are opportunistic eaters, so they will eat whatever is readily available if insects are scarce (3.).

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​Giant Anteaters have a bushy tail, which keeps them warm but also hides pups resting on their backs. The gray and brown fur of Giant Anteaters helps them blend in (camouflage) with the leaves and trees of woodland areas to protect them against predators such as Pumas. Giant Anteater pups have black stripes that run along their bodies and are in a pattern specifically like their mother’s stripes, so it is difficult for predators to see the pups when they are holding onto 
their mother’s back. 

Giant Anteaters also have sharp, front claws that aid them when defending themselves against attackers and when digging into ant mounds. In fact, Giant Anteaters can kill Jaguars because of the large size of their claws. However, it is rare for Jaguars to hunt Giant Anteaters. Jaguars are opportunistic hunters, so they will only hunt Giant Anteaters if they have an advantage against them. Other animals that Jaguars may prefer eating are Capybaras and Caimans.

Lastly, Giant Anteater’s claws are so long that these animals must walk around on their knuckles! Most anteaters are arboreal, but the Giant Anteaters are the exception to this rule due to their larger body size not making it feasible for them to live in trees (2.). These animals are solitary, which means they live alone except for during the breeding season. When Giant Anteaters mate, they do not have permanent nesting spots, as they may wander around the forest floor during mating season (1.). The female only has one pup per year. The pup is weaned for the first few months after birth. A pup may stay with the mother for up to two years before the pup leaves its mother and becomes independent.
 
​On the IUCN Red List, Giant Anteaters are classified as a vulnerable species globally and as the most threatened mammal in Central America (4.). Giant Anteaters face many threats such as habitat destruction, fires in grasslands, vehicle strikes, hunting, and attacks by feral dogs. It is essential to conserve Giant Anteaters because they help control insect populations, and they use their claws to dig for water when there is none on the surface. The water that the Giant Anteaters reach underground is then available for other species (4.). Giant Anteaters have been at the zoo for over 50 years. Gregg Dancho, the former Director of CBZ, mentioned that the old Giant Anteater habitat is where the Grey Fox is 
currently living. The Giant Anteaters we have at the zoo now, housed near the Chacoan Peccaries, are named EO (male) and Pana (female). EO and Pana were both born in 2009 and arrived at the zoo in 2015. They are the parents of a baby Giant Anteater who was born at CBZ in 2024.

Work Cited
1. Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. (2016, April 25). Giant 
Anteater. Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. 
https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/giantanteater#:~:text=Giant%20anteaters%20are%20typically%20solitary,likely%20wander%20throughout%20their%20ranges
2. Smithsonian. (2019). Smithsonian Zoology: Inside the Secret World of Animals. New York: DK Publishing.
3. Giant Anteater. Giant Anteater | Kiezebrink Focus on Food. (n.d.). https://www.kiezebrink.eu/en/zoo-database/name46#:~:text=Natural%20diet%20Giant%20anteater&text=Giant%20anteaters%20are%20insectivo
res%20that,bodied%20grubs%2C%20eggs%20and%20fruits.
4. Global Conservation. (2024, January 15). Giant Anteater. Giant Anteater - Global 
Conservation. https://globalconservation.org/endangered-species/giant-anteater