Giant Anteater Myrmecophaga tridactyla

Giant Anteater Myrmecophaga tridactyla

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The Giant Anteater is classed as Vulnerable due to widespread deforestation and #palmoil, soy, meat, sugarcane and gold mining across their range. They are often victims to frequent deliberate and accidentally lit fires in the Amazon. These gentle creatures are becoming increasingly rare. But there’s a lot of actions you can take. Make sure you #Boycottpalmoil #BoycottGold #Boycottmeat and #Boycott4Wildlife to help them every time you shop.

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Extant (resident): Argentina; Bolivia; Brazil; Colombia; Costa Rica; Ecuador; French Guiana; Guyana; Honduras; Nicaragua; Panama; Paraguay; Peru; Suriname; Venezuela

Possibly Extinct: Argentina; Belize; El Salvador; Guatemala; Uruguay

Vulnerable

Geographic Range

Giant Anteaters live in tropical moist forests, dry forests, savannas, and open grasslands. They’ve also been spotted in the Gran Chaco and timber plantations. Recent camera trap data suggest they might be more abundant in upland forests of the Brazilian Amazon than previously thought. These animals need large areas with forested patches to survive.

Appearance and unusual characteristics

Giant Anteaters have a striking and unforgettable appearance. They are covered in wiry, grey and brown fur with a distinctive black and white stripe running along their bodies. Their elongated snouts and long, sticky tongues are perfectly adapted for feeding on ants and termites. With their bushy tails and long, curved claws, they are supremely strange looking creatures, making them captivating to behold.

• Sensitive Smell: Their sense of smell is about 40 times more sensitive than our own. This allows them to locate ants and termites, their primary food sources, which are often hidden underground or inside mounds. This also ensures that they can consume enough food to meet their dietary needs.
• Low Body Temperature: They have a lower body temperature (91°F/32°C) compared to most mammals. This is likely related to their low-calorie diet of insects, which provides less energy compared to other food sources. By maintaining a lower body temperature, this helps them to conserve energy.
• Walking on Knuckles: They walk on their knuckles in order to protect their large, sharp claws. These sharpened talons need to be kept razor sharp so that they can effectively break into ant and termite mounds.
• Sleeping Habits: They sleep in a ball and cover themselves with their tails for camouflage and cooling down on hot tropical nights.

Diet

Giant Anteaters primarily feed on ants and termites. They use their long, sticky tongues to extract insects from nests, consuming up to 30,000 insects in a single day. They can also enjoy tucking into super-ripe, soft fruit like mangos and avocados.

Mating and reproduction

Giant Anteaters have a polygynous mating system, where males may mate with multiple females. Breeding can occur throughout the year, but the exact timing may vary based on environmental conditions. Giant Anteaters are mostly solitary animals. Each year, females give birth to a single baby after a gestation period of 171-184 days. Mothers carry their babies on their backs for about six months. In captivity, females can start reproducing at 18-22 months, with the oldest known mothers being 20-24 years old. In the wild, females reach sexual maturity around 2 years old, but data on their longevity and survival rates are limited. The generation length in the wild is estimated to be around 7 years.

Threats

Giant Anteaters face a number of serious human-related threats to their existence including:

1. Massive deforestation for palm oil, soy, gold mining and meat: The Giant Anteater is at risk from habitat loss in parts of their range, and this is a significant threat to Central American populations in particular.
2. Fires across their range: Where this species inhabits grassland habitats, they are particularly susceptible to fires.
3. Sugar plantations and wildfires: In Brazil, burning of sugar cane plantations prior to their harvest leads to the death of significant numbers of giant anteaters due to severe burn injuries (F. Miranda pers. comm. 2013).
4. Road accidents and incidents with dogs: Animals are sometimes killed on roads or by dogs. Giant anteaters are hunted for food throughout their distribution
5. Human persecution: They are seen as pests and are hunted.
6. The illegal pet trade: Some are taken an exploited for the illegal pet trade in some parts of their range.

You can support this beautiful animal

There are no known conservation activities for this animal. Share out this post to social media and join the #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife on social media to raise awareness

Further Information

Miranda, F., Bertassoni, A. & Abba, A.M. 2014. Myrmecophaga tridactyla. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014: e.T14224A47441961. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T14224A47441961.en. Downloaded on 08 June 2021.

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