GARDEN CITY, Kan. (KWCH) – Garden City’s Lee Richardson Zoo, early this month, announced the arrival of a giant anteater from a zoo in Fresno, California. The three-year-old known as “Chili” made her debut in the Lee Richardson Zoo’s South American Pampas, joining three greater rheas (species of large flightless bird native to South America).
As their name indicates, giant anteaters’ diet primarily consists of ants and termites.
“They use long, stout claws to rip apart termite mounds and logs in search of insects. They have very narrow mouths with no teeth and use long, slender tongues to extract their prey. Insects are then smashed between the tongue and palate while being constantly swallowed,” the Lee Richardson Zoo explained.
The zoo said that through management as a Species Survival Plan, there are 90 individual giant anteaters at nearly 50 facilities within zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).
“Native to both the forests and grasslands of Central and South America, giant anteaters are currently considered Vulnerable in the Wild, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (CITES). Populations have been reduced due to habitat destruction, particularly by fires and poaching for fur and bushmeat,” the Lee Richardson Zoo explained.
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