Giant anteater baby born!

Say hello to our baby giant anteater!

Proud parents Andina and Eskil, who are both 12 years old, had their third baby at the beginning of October and the youngster can now be seen hitching a ride on its mother’s back!

Although the species is called the giant anteater, the yet-to-be-named pup weighs around just 800g and is around 60cm long from the tip of its impressive snout to the end of its already magnificent bushy tail!

Keepers have been unable to find out if the pup is a boy or a girl as they are leaving the mother to rear it naturally. With eye-catching black and white diagonal stripes on dense, shaggy hair - the giant anteater family certainly stand out from the crowd.

Luke Minns, Section Head of Mammals, said: “We suspected that Andina was pregnant and we were delighted to find the little pup on the morning of 6th October, when we did our early morning checks”. 

Giant anteaters hail from the swamps, grasslands and humid forests of areas from Southern Belize to Northern Argentina and they are the last living species to have evolved in South America when it was an isolated continent.

According to the IUCN Red List, giant anteaters are classified as being vulnerable to extinction and are the most threatened mammal in Central America.