THE FIRST Giant Anteater to be born in the UK this year and only the sixth in Europe, makes this new arrival at Amazon World on the Island very special.

Only a few days old and sporting a snout that would make any mother anteater proud, the little baby weighs only 1.5kg. The little boy or girl will spend all day clinging to its mother’s back for about four months until he or she is ready to walk, explore and find food on his own.

There are 104 Giant Anteaters in captivity in Europe and 243 in zoo’s around the world recorded on the ISIS database (international species information system) and these unusual looking mammals are classed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List so this birth is an important addition to the Giant Anteater population.

“We have been closely monitoring the behaviour of the anteaters over the last month and we have been expecting mother Kliene to give birth over the last week. As we’d predicted, on the morning of the May 26 she didn’t let us down. We are very happy that both mum and baby are doing very well” said Rachel Patrick, the Head Keeper at Amazon World.

The parents, Ernst and Kliene arrived at Amazon World in 2005 and 2007 from Germany and became part of an international breeding programme. They produced their first young ‘Ishak’ back in August 2008 and he has now moved to Aalborg Zoo, Denmark. And once this little anteater reaches adulthood he will also leave the Island to join a mate at another animal collection.