Buffalo Zoo welcomes new male giant anteater
We’ve got some “giant” news to share!
The Buffalo Zoo is thrilled to announce the arrival of Tupi, our new male giant anteater who comes from Nashville Zoo!
Tupi is 7 years old and was born on July 30, 2018 at Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He arrives in Buffalo on a Species Survival Plan recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to breed with our resident female giant anteater, Maria (8).
Tupi has already begun exploring his new habitat in M&T Bank Rainforest Falls in energetic fashion! Whether it’s sniffing around the various nooks and crannies of the exhibit, enjoying his daily diet or even doing some digging, his curiosity and personality will surely capture the hearts of our Buffalo Zoo community.
Giant anteaters are considered vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with around 5,000 of them estimated to remain in the wild. Their population is decreasing largely due to habitat destruction, hunting and road collisions. Giant anteaters are highly susceptible to the latter due to their poor vision, slow movement and nocturnal behaviors, combined with roads cutting through their natural feeding and habitat areas. Wildlife corridors with highway underpasses and overpasses may be a way to save the species in the future and work is being done in their native areas to test these theories.
The giant anteater’s slow reproduction rate (only 1 pup per year) is why breeding recommendations like the one that brings Tupi to Buffalo are so integral to this incredible species’ survival.
Giant anteaters can grow to be between 6 to 8 feet long, and around 60 to 100 pounds.
Their distinctive features are their lengthy snout and 2-foot-long tongue, which can flick in and out up to 150 times per minute. They feed on almost exclusively ants and termites, ripping apart nests with their powerful claws to find their prey.
Giant anteaters are native to Central and South America, with the ability to live both in tropical rainforests as well as more arid grassland terrain so long as there’s enough prey for sustenance. They are the largest of the four anteater species.
