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Photo: Ken Wilson	Photo: David Shackelford

Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla)

Identification

Like many of Guyana’s giants – Jaguar, Harpy Eagle, Anaconda, to name a few – if you’re lucky enough to see a Giant Anteater sauntering across the savannahs, chances are you won’t have to ask your guide what it is. Full grown, Giant Anteaters weigh from 65 to 140 pounds (29 to 65 kg) and reach an overall length between six and eight feet, and that’s not including this odd creature’s two-foot-long tongue.

The largest species of anteater has a long narrow head tipped by a small black nose and mouth. The long snout provides an excellent sense of smell – roughly 40 times greater than humans – but the anteater’s tiny eyes work rather poorly. The scientific jury seems mixed on whether or not the small rounded ears produce a keen sense of hearing – some researchers say yes, others say no. On the anteater’s opposite end is an oversized bushy tail two to three feet long and covered by long straw-like hair.

Photo: Foto Natura

Dominant coloration of the Giant Anteater’s coarse hair may be mostly brown or grey with the tail being generally darker colored than the rest of the body. All Giant Anteaters have a black and white (or light brown or grey) stripe that runs from beneath the snout to mid-torso. The lighter coloring extends to cover the anteater’s front legs.

Mymecophaga tridactyla comes from the Greek meaning ‘three-fingered ant eater,” but the Giant Anteater actually has five digits on each foot. It’s believed the name stems from the elongated claws on three digits of each of the front feet, which can be four inches long. Essential when it comes to breaking open termite mounds and defending against predators, the claws are noticeable in that the anteater curls its front digits and walks on its knuckles to protect them. The result is an awkward shuffling gait that adds to the anteater’s odd appearance.

Behavior

The strange looking body of the Giant Anteater is actually perfectly suited for its daily routine. The Giant Anteater survives on a diet consisting almost entirely of ants and termites. Using a keen sense of smell to locate nests of the tiny creatures, the anteater then digs in using its prolonged and very strong frontal claws. Once the anteater has managed to break a hole into a termite mound or tree (never destroying a nest in the process), its two-foot-long tongue, which is attached to the sternum, begins flicking 150 times per minute. Because it only takes a minute for troops of soldier ants to materialize, Giant Anteaters typically don’t linger long at a nest.

The Giant Anteater’s salivary glands secrete a sticky substance that covers the tongue and allows them to rapidly gather soft-bodied grubs, ants, termites, and their eggs and larvae. As Giant Anteaters are one of only a few mammals that have no teeth, they use hard growths inside their mouths and strong stomach muscles to crush what they consume, which can be up to 35,000 insects in a single day.

The claws of the Giant Anteater also prove useful when it feels threatened (typically docile, this is only when cornered or being attacked by its main predators, big cats like jaguars and puma). When provoked, they rear up on their hind legs, balance with their tail, and begin swiping like a boxer. Adults have been known to kill large cats.

With an average body temperature of 90.9ºF (32.7ºC) – one of the lowest of all land-dwelling mammals – the Giant Anteater is not a very active animal. They seem to be more diurnal in areas far from human settlement and nocturnal when human habitation is near their range. When they sleep for up to 15 hours of the day, they curl up in old hollows and use their bushy tail to cover their body and head.

Outside of mating and caring for young, Giant Anteaters are mainly solitary creatures. They breed year-round and the gestation period is an average of 190 days. Immediately after birth, the young climbs onto the mother’s back, where it will ride for up to a year. Young are born with adult markings and remain with their mother until two years, unless she becomes pregnant sooner. The average life span in the wild is believed to be around 14 years.

Habitat

Giant Anteaters are presently found in Central and South America, from southern Belize to northern Argentina. They can be found in a range of habitat, including tropical forests, grassland savannahs and swamps. The biggest threat to Giant Anteaters is hunting and the loss of their habitat from the destruction of forests and encroachment of human habitation, especially when it involves highways and speeding cars.

Within Guyana

With an estimated 5,000 remaining in the wild, Giant Anteaters are considered uncommon throughout their entire range. They are listed as CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) Appendix II (not yet threatened with extinction, but trade must be controlled), and as Near Threatened on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List.

In Guyana, the solitary creatures are often spotted in the Rupununi Savannahs. While they are sometimes seen in Guyana’s rainforest, most visitors have their lucky sighting in the open savannahs, especially around Karanambu Ranch in the North Rupununi and Dadanawa Ranch in the South Rupununi.