Dados Reprodutivos da População Cativa de Tamanduá-Bandeira ( Myrmecophaga tridactyla Linnaeus, 1758) da Fundação Parque Zoológico de São Paulo

Abstract

The giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) is considered Vulnerable in Brazil. Information on captive maintenance and reproduction is scarce, but may be of great importance for the conservation of this species. This article provides information on the management, diet, birth rates, survival rates, causes of newborn and juvenile death, and sexual maturity of captive giant anteaters from São Paulo Zoo, Brazil (FPZSP). The institution has maintained 77 giant anteaters between 1968, when the first individual was received, and June 2007. It registered the country’s first captive birth and natural rearing of a giant anteater in 1986. All measures taken by the institution aim at increasing reproductive rates and offspring survival, thus making it a national reference in giant anteater breeding and maintenance and contributing to the conservation of this species.