GIANT ANTEATER
Myrmecophaga Tridactyla
This long-snouted critter lives at the San Francisco Zoo, over by the pond with the Capybaras. There are two of them, but they are usually kept separated and the one that stays in the back pen is not really viewable. The other one roams in and out of the room and into the compound with those big rodents. They rarely stand still unless they are laying down in one of those dark rooms. So it is a challenge to get a picture that captures a good perspective of the Giant Anteater.
I read that they walk on their knuckles like apes do in order to protect those long claws from unnecessary wear. They need them of course for tearing into big termite mounds. They have a nice long tongue about as long as a giraffe's, two feet, and it is covered with lots of very tiny little spines that point back towards its mouth and also has a sticky coating of saliva to trap as many ants or termites as possible when it pulls its tongue back in.
If you want to read more about these nosy creatures, just click here: Giant Anteater
More of my photos:
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Giant Anteater 1 |
Giant Anteater 2 |
Giant Anteater 3 |
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Giant Anteater 4 |
Giant Anteater 5 |
Giant Anteater 6 |