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| Suzanne Bolduc |
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Tamandua hanging out in the Rain Forest at the Central Park Zoo.
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The Tamandua is a type of anteater. They live in forests and grasslands, are semi-arboreal, and possess partially prehensile tails. They mainly eat ants and termites, but they occasionally eat bees (ugh). In captivity, they will eat fruits and meat. They have no teeth and depend on their powerful gizzard to break down their food. Tamanduas have thick, bristly fur, which is yellowish-white, with a broad black lateral band, covering nearly the whole of the side of the body.
The word tamanduá is Tupi for "anteater", and in Tupi and Portuguese refers to anteaters in general. The tamandua is called in those languages tamanduá-mirim (mirim means "small").