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Home \ Central Park Zoo \
Tamandua
Tamandua ( Tamandua Tetradactyla)
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Zoo collection includes: Pablo, an eight year old male.
Found in the wild: Range includes Mexico, Central America and South America in tropical rain forests, savannas and thorn scrubs.
See him at the Central Park Zoo: Pablo can be seen in the Tropical Rain Forest in the upstairs gallery. Look up. He is usually in his tree or look down to see him sniffing on the floor of his home.
Description: Tamanduas are solitary creatures about two to three feet in length with about a two foot length tail. They weigh from 5 to 15 pounds. Pablo has no teeth but has a 16 inch tongue as wide as a pencil. It has a sticky mucus for getting those tasty termites. He can whip out his tongue over 150 times per minute while eating.
Zoo Tamandua Habitat: A large glass window encases Pablo's home. He has a large tree to climb about in and plenty of room to root around the ground for things to eat. He has the company of two conures.
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What do they eat: They mainly eat ants and termites, but they occasionally eat bees. They can eat up to 9000 termites a night. They have no teeth and depend on their powerful gizzard to break down their food. At CPZ Pablo eats a pasty gruel of pureed fruits, honey and he loves high protein wax worms.
Life span: 8 to 12 years.
Threats: Jaguars, Margay and large birds of prey.
Fun Facts: The tamandua baby stays with mom for a year riding on her back. A smelly scent gives tamanduas the nickname "stinkers of the forest." The animal can spray a foul-smelling secretion said to be four times more powerful than a skunk's! A tamandua's stomach was found to contain more than one pound (0.45 kilograms) of ants. At 91 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius), tamanduas have one of the lowest body temperatures of any active land mammal.
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