Giant anteater

"A giant anteater can smell very well. He can smell forty times better than a human."

Reuzenmiereneter

  • Myrmecophaga tridactyla

    Scientific name

  • Centraal en Zuid-Amerika

    Habitat

  • mieren, termieten en larven

    Food

  • 15 - 25 jaar

    Lifetime

  • 18 tot 39 kilo

    Weight

  • 1 tot 1,20 meter

    Length

  • 1

    Number of youngsters

  • 6 maanden

    Wear time

  • Kwetsbaar

    IUCN Status

  • Ja

    EEP

Wist je dat?

  • 150

    times per minute, that's how many times the giant anteater can stick out its tongue

  • 6,5

    months a giant anteater is pregnant

  • 25

    years, that's how old a giant anteater gets

Sticky Spit

Giant anteaters have no teeth. They slurp up their food with their long tongue. On the tongue is a sticky layer of saliva. Termites and larvae stick to it well. With their sharp claws, anteaters make a hole in a termite mound and then insert their tongue. The tongue goes in and out of their mouths as many as 150 times a minute.

Dangerous

The giant anteater has very large claws. It uses them to break open termite nests. With its claws it can also defend itself well against predators such as the jaguar. When danger threatens, the anteater will prefer to run away. But if that fails, it uses its claws to scare off the predator.

Want to know more about IUCN status or the EEP? Clickhere.