Methods of Recognizing and Recuperating an Underweight, Weaning Juvenile Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) M. D. Quavillon, Zoo Keeper III Palm Beach Zoo Florida , USA The Palm Beach Zoo was pleased to announce the second live birth of a giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), Casper , on 20 January 2005 . This event was especially exciting because, not only was it her sire, Cruz’s, second captive offspring; it was the second successful live anteater birth to ever take place at the zoo. During the first ten months, Casper seemed a normal, healthy juvenile anteater. Zoo staff started noticing subtle changes in her behavior at around ten and a half months. Since she was observed eating by the staff, and was often seen active while on display, these changes were originally written off as being part of her personality. . Handling her was somewhat difficult as her mother was a rather aggressive animal, so it was nearly impossible to separate her from her mother until she was old enough to walk around her holding area on her own, independent of her mother. It was only then, at around ten months of age, that keepers were able to shift her away from her mother and weigh her on a regular basis. At eleven months, a keeper realized when attempting to routinely weigh her that she suddenly felt below an ideal weight. The obvious signs of an animal being drastically underweight are not prominent on giant anteaters since it is nearly impossible to see their ribs or sunken hips due to their long and coarse hair. The weighing proved that, not only had she lost weight since last being weighed, she was drastically under the weight that her older sibling had been at the exact same age. The zoo veterinarian was immediately called in to examine her. Through careful consideration of accounts by the keepers who took care of Casper and according to what had been recorded on the daily reports, it was realized that Casper had not ever properly learned how to eat on her own after being weaned off her mother. Though keepers often saw her eating, it was entirely possible that she was not successfully getting enough food. It was decided that it was vital to Casper ’s survival that we immediately begin tube feeding food and nutritional supplements into her. During the next three months, zoo staff became completely committed to saving Casper ’s life by giving her multiple feedings daily, thus causing her to gain weight, then teaching her how to eat on her own.
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