Zet & Fidji Giant Anteaters (Myrmecophagaga tridactyla)

Born:
Zet 2009
Fidji 2008
Sex:
Zet: male
Fidji: female
Lives at: Howletts

Zet and Fidji are our Giant Anteaters at Howletts Wild Animal Park. They are a popular favourite with their keepers and visitors alike. Fidji is extremely friendly and Zet is laid back and gentle individual who loves curling up in his bed of straw.

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By adopting an Aspinall animal, you are helping to support our amazing overseas work and back to the wild campaigns.

What's included in your adoption?

Please note: Automatic name generation is currently unavailable for Digital adoptions certificates. These will be left blank for the purchaser or recipient to enter. For Printed Adoptions please provide the recipients name and it will be manually entered when you order is processed.  

Fun Facts about Giant Anteaters

The giant anteater’s sense of smell is 40 times more powerful than that of a human.

Diet & habits 

Anteaters are edentate animals (meaning they have no teeth) but with their long tongues which they flick up to 150 times a minute, they can swallow up to 35,000 ants and termites each day.

The female giant anteater produces one offspring (also called a pup) which will ride on its mother back.  The pup will stay with its mum until it is 2 years of age when it is considered fully grown. Although not aggressive, if cornered they will lash out with their four-inch-long claws and have been known to fight off pumas or jaguars.

Where can they be found in the wild? 

Found in tropical and dry forests, open grasslands and savannas of South and Central America.

What does a giant anteater look like? 

The giant anteater is the largest of all four anteater species, reaching up to eight feet long. It has greyish-brown fur with white front legs and black stripes running from its chest to its back and a bushy tail.

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