Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. We are on the last week of our general admission here at Timbavati Wildlife Park. This week will also conclude our general admission and Safari Train Ride “Combo Ticket.” If you’d like to take advantage of that killer offer click on over to our website and check it out. Also we have free pumpkins for everyone until our last open day to the general public which is Oct. 28th 2018! Now onto this week’s topic the tamandua anteater.
The tamandua anteater is also referred to as the “lesser anteater.” The lesser is about 3-4 in length on average while the giant anteater is 5-6 feet in length on average. The tamandua or lesser is what we have in the park in the picture shown on this week’s post. If you want to compare sized I am sure a giant anteater would be walking our animal handler Lexi here and not the other way around.
Anteaters belong to a class of mammals called “Vermilingua” which is derived from latin for “worm tongue.” That’s because of course anteaters don’t have teeth. They have a really long and sticky tongue that indeed does look like a worm which they use to eat ants and termites.
Anteaters are closely related to sloths and armadillos. The vertebrae in their lower spines are have special articulations found in this group of animals specifically. Anteaters also walk on their knuckles. You see they have these really long claws that curl under their paws. These are specialized for ripping open hiding places and anthills. When an anteater is set up to eat, those claws become the business end indeed.
There is a lot to learn about anteaters as you will see this week’s video. Don’t forget we are open for tours year after our regular season ends this weekend. Thanks and we will see you all in the park!
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