Baby giant anteater born, first in UK this year

June 2, 2010 by Shawn Douglas
Filed under: News

A rare baby giant anteater was born at the Amazon World Zoo Park, the first of its kind in the UK this year.

Staff at the Amazon World Zoo Park are delighted about a new addition to the family — a baby giant anteater.

A team of veterinarians monitored mother Kliene for several weeks, anticipating the event. The BBC broke the news today that the healthy 1.5 kilogram (3.3 pound) baby had been born.

“We are very happy that both mum and baby are doing very well,” Rachel Patrick, head zoo keeper at Amazon World, told the BBC.

Mother Kliene and father Ernst originated in Germany and are part of a long-term international breeding program. Across Europe there are 104 giant anteaters in captivity, with five of them having already birthed this year.

Giant anteaters are currently categorized as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. This classification means that experts predict a 20 percent reduction in the number of giant anteaters in the next 10 years. There are estimated to be as few as 5,000 of the animals currently in the wild and roughly 90 to 100 animals in zoos in the U.S.

Two weeks ago it was reported that the Roger Williams Park Zoo in the U.S. state of Rhode Island lost one of its giant anteaters to digestive complications two months after giving birth. The 8-year-old giant Talara was found to have intestinal blockage and lesions in the uterus and stomach. While normal for mothers to have a reduced diet after giving birth, zoo officials became concerned when Talara failed to return to normal eating behavior.

Zoo officials have been caring for the baby in the veterinarian hospital and offered an optimistic outlook for its future.