Giant Anteater

Myrmecophaga tridactyla

### Regions

Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay

## Habitat

### Water Area

660 m² +60 m²/ea. add'l
0 m²

### Temperature

0 m²
8‒42 ℃

## Social

### Fem. Bachelor

1‒2 (up to 1 male, up to 1 female)
1‒2
1‒2

### Sterility

4 years
Death

### Interbirth

9 months
12 months

## Taxonomy

### Order

Mammalia
Pilosa

### Genus

Myrmecophagidae
Myrmecophaga

The **Giant Anteater** (*Myrmecophaga tridactyla*) is a large South American mammal featured in the South America Pack DLC for *Planet Zoo*.

## Zoopedia Description

### General

**Population in the Wild:** 5,000

The giant anteater (or Myrmecophaga tridactyla) is a medium sized mammal that lives in the grasslands and forests of Central and South America. As the name suggests, the species feeds almost exclusively on ants and termites, detecting ant colonies by smell, before digging a hole to feed using its long, sticky tongue. The giant anteater has a very distinctive appearance, with a long, tubular snout, small eyes and ears, stocky limbs, a coarse mane and a thick bushy tail. They also have a characteristic pattern across their bodies; white front legs, a grey muzzle and a black strip across their chest, throat and shoulders, with bristly, black to brown tails and manes.

The giant anteater is a vulnerable species; the overall population decreased by 30% between 2000 and 2010. Their habitat is under threat through deforestation and the expansion of agriculture, and they are also badly impacted by wildfires, hunting, car collisions and dog attacks. Anteaters are protected when their home range falls within nature reserves, and there are also captive breeding programs in zoos, with anteaters being reintroduced to areas where they have gone locally extinct to prevent population fragmentation.

### Social

Giant anteaters are solitary and live alone, with the exception of a mother and her young.

### Reproduction

Male giant anteaters will track fertile females by the scent of their urine, forming consortships with receptive individuals before spending several days in each other's company to forage. The pair will likely mate several times during this period, and then go their separate ways, leaving the female to be pregnant for 190 days before giving birth to a single pup; newborns climb onto their mother's back and are carried around by her for the first few weeks of their life. They begin to eat ants and termites at 3 months old and are fully weaned by 10-months. At this age they will leave their mother and become independent, reaching sexual maturity between 2.5 and 4 years old.

## Animal Care

 FEEDING STATIONS
 FOOD ENRICHMENT
Slow Feeder · Dog Ball · Forage Box Enrichment · Termite Mound
Herb Scent Marker · Large Ball · Large Snow Ball · Plant Screen · Rubbing Pad · Scratching Post · Scots Pine/Tamarind Scratching Tree · Rubbing Pad Bark

## Trivia

### Zoopedia Fun Facts

* The giant anteater may visit 200 ant nests and eat up to 30,000 insects in a day.
* Giant anteaters have no teeth and very limited jaw movement; they can only open their mouth enough to stick their tongue out and collect ants.
* A giant anteater's tongue is 18in longer than the length of their skull.
* Giant anteaters have no stomach acid, instead using the formic acid made by the ants they eat to digest their food.
* Giant anteaters will dig large holes to access water, which are then used as water holes by many other animals.

### Other Trivia

* Unlike in-game, real giant anteaters are not safe for guests to walk around, as, due to their long, sharp claws, they are potentially dangerous and a zookeeper was mauled in 2007.
* The Giant Anteater is the first xenarthran to be added into the game.

## Gallery

First look at the Giant AnteaterErythristic Giant Anteater