‘Surprise baby’ anteater joins Mandai Wildlife Group’s River Wonders
A baby giant anteater, which is a species known for not breeding often, has joined Mandai Wildlife Reserve’s anteater family.
“This is a surprise baby because we weren’t expecting any more babies due to its father’s age,” said a keeper on the River Wonders Terrestrial’s animal care team in a video posted by Mandai Wildlife Reserve on Facebook on June 29.
Giant anteaters have a single offspring once a year after a gestation period of about six months.
The baby was born to 20-year-old father Zapata and protective mother Iapura on April 10, the first day of Hari Raya Puasa. The Straits Times has contacted Mandai Wildlife Reserve for the baby’s name, which the video did not provide.
“The personality of the baby is similar to its dad’s – it’s very active and playful,” said the keeper, adding that the baby has mostly been following its mother, often clinging to her back.
The pup has three siblings that have been relocated to other zoos – Singapore’s Night Safari, Thailand’s Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo, and Taiwan’s Taipei Zoo. Their relocation is part of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria’s Ex-situ Programme, which sees zoos exchanging animals with one another for breeding.
“I hope the baby grows up healthily so it can be part of the breeding programme too, and have more babies in the future,” said the keeper.
The new pup has been microchipped by the wildlife group’s veterinary healthcare team. If it goes to another zoo, the microchip will allow zookeepers there to check its identification.
“You have a passport number (now),” the keeper told the pup with a laugh.
In 2023, Singapore’s four main wildlife parks – Bird Paradise, Night Safari, River Wonders and Singapore Zoo – celebrated 970 births and hatchlings across 128 species.
River Wonders also welcomed its fifth anteater baby at the park that year.
The 2023 births marked the highest number of babies that the wildlife parks have collectively produced since 2013, Mandai Wildlife Group had said earlier.
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