00:03The giant anteaters are a large mammal that are insectivores and they are found in Central and
00:10South America. They are currently listed as vulnerable which means their populations in
00:14the wild are stable but that they are very subject to becoming endangered. We currently
00:21have two giant anteaters here at the Reed Park Zoo. First we have Nico who is 16 years old and
00:27was actually born in Germany as part of the species survival plan. Then we have Zola who
00:31is six years old and she was born here at the Reed Park Zoo and she tends to be a
00:36little
00:36bit more laid back where if there's an opportunity to nap she's going to take it. The anteaters
00:42are fed every day an insectivore pellet diet which is a pellet form that encompasses the
00:48nutrients that they would receive in the wild and they absolutely love avocado. The anteaters
00:53actually do not have teeth and so we have to feed them food that they can slurp up with
00:57their tongue really well and avocado is the perfect slurping food. Just like kids, anteaters
01:05do need to shower every day but unlike kids the anteaters need water in order to poop.
01:09So the anteaters will always go over to water and even if they just got to put their feet
01:12in that's when they know that it's time for them to poop and then they will also take a
01:15bath in that water. Since it is very warm in South America that if there's a really nice
01:21water shower and it's still very warm out that they will go ahead and give themselves
01:25that back but they also do love little pools of water and they will like dunk themselves
01:30right in and start combing. One of the things we do for the showers is we bring out a hose
01:35for the anteaters and we literally mimic like a shower and we'll have it kind of spray over
01:39them and then that encourages their natural behavior of going into water and you'll literally
01:44see them start to comb right away once they get into it.
01:53The best part about working with anteaters is their personalities that they are so different
01:58and they're so strong personalities and my favorite thing that they absolutely do is their
02:02yawn. Every morning the first thing they do when they wake up and I know they're going
02:05to get out of bed is they have this big yawn and 18 inches of that tongue slurps out of
02:10their
02:10mouth and slurps right back in.
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