Giant Anteater

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Giant Anteater

The sad news is that Giant anteaters are right on the cusp of extinction in Costa Rica. At best, the population is so small that it is no longer sustainable. The most recent recorded sightings were in Corcovado National Park and in La Selva, and also in Santa Rosa National Park and these sightings were some twenty years ago. It’s more than feasible the Giant anteater was never really that common in Costa Rica, probably limited by its need for large home ranges. The Giant anteater is also slow to reproduce and combined with the fact that it’s a very conspicuous animal, it is/was probably unable to withstand the pressures of poachers and habitat loss. Obviously, any visitor fortunate enough to sight a Giant anteater should find their way to the nearest ranger station to report this rarity.

Largely a solitary animal, the Giant anteater is also terrestrial. It looks for food both day and night, but in some areas is almost completely nocturnal, probably due to hot daytime temperatures or the possibility of human contact. The Giant anteater will grow to be about 50 inches long and weigh approximately 70 pounds.

The Giant anteaters diet consists of, you guessed it, ants. With the exception of a few termites here and there, 96% of their diet is either large soil- and wood-nesting ants. Occasionally it will ingest other insects, probably by accident, and in captivity they are known to eat fruit. Giant anteaters can down several thousand ants in less than a minute, which is about all the time they feed on any given nest. The large soil- and wood-nesting ants have little defense to the hungry Giant anteater, as the anteater will quickly rip a hole into the nest with their huge claws and poke their 20 inch snout and extrude its 24 inch tongue, which is attached to the breast bone, at a rate of 150 times a minute. The adult Giant anteater consumes approximately 30,000 ants each day. That being said, Giant anteaters do try and avoid species such as army and leaf-cutting ants that have large jaws, adequate chemical defenses, or spiny bodies.

Male Giant anteaters are very territorial, but females not so much. In places where food is scarce, Giant anteaters home range can be as large as 6,000 acres, but usually average just under 1000 acres. When Giant anteaters do have an altercation with one another, they will circle each other, exchanging ritualized blows with their forefeet, but can, on occasion, exchange heavy blows that can cause injury.

When resting, Giant anteaters lie in shallow depressions and use their bushy tails like a blanket, folding them back over themselves.

Gestation results in a single young and last a little over six months. Although fully weaned in four to six weeks, the young will continue to ride on the mother’s back for six to nine months. The Giant anteater will reach sexual maturity by the age of two and a half to four years old.

Now exceedingly rare in Costa Rica; Giant anteaters were found in lowlands on both slopes in open or forested environments.