JAPAN: Newly born anteater wobbles through its first press appearance

Record ID: 465172

  • Title: JAPAN: Newly born anteater wobbles through its first press appearance
  • Date: 22nd May 2009
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (MAY 22, 2009) (REUTERS) MOTHER ANTEATER WITH BABY ON BACK WALKING BABY PLACED ON WOODEN BOARD AND STANDING UP ONLY TO FALL DOWN ENTRANCE OF SUNSHINE INTERNATIONAL AQUARIUM BABY ANTEATER ON BACK OF SOFT TOY BABY GETTING ON MOTHERS BACK AND THEN MOTHER WALKING AWAY MOTHER ANTEATER WITH BABY ON BACK WALKING ON GROUND ANTEATER CRAWLING UP BACK OF MASAHIRO TOMIYAMA, ASSISANT CURATOR (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) SUNSHINE INTERNATIONAL AQUARIUM ASSISTANT CURATOR, MASAHIRO TOMIYAMA, SAYING: "The mother looks after her baby, so there's not really been any trouble for us, she does it all." BABY ANTEATER RUNNING INTO CAMERA AND CRYING BABY ANTEATER ON BACK OF STUFFED ANIMAL OF MOTHER, BEING WEIGHED ON SCALE THAT SHOWS 840 GRAMS (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) SUNSHINE INTERNATIONAL AQUARIUM ASSISTANT CURATOR, MASAHIRO TOMIYAMA, SAYING: "It's still early, so until it gets a bit bigger we won't know what sex it is. At the moment though, I've got a feeling that it's a boy." BABY ANTEATER ON MOTHERS BACK AS MOTHER SNIFFS AROUND MOTHER WITH BABY ON BACK TRYING TO ENTER BOX MOTHER AND BABY INSIDE OF BOX
  • Embargoed: 6th June 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Environment / Natural World,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA85HDUBLFDXX49SZ9C6APHBV3D
  • Story Text: A newly born anteater debuted to the press in Tokyo on Friday (May 22) before its official premier to the public later next month.
    Still wobbly on its feet, the 840 gram baby anteater still prefers the company of its mother than the limelight.
    But that may change if it is anything like its famous mom Tae - who made headlines twice over the past five years when she clawed open the door to her cage and escaped, once for even a whole day.
    Nevertheless, mom's escape artists days may be over as she's now taking her motherhood seriously.
    "The mother looks after her baby, so there's not really been any trouble for us, she does it all," said Mashiro Tomiyama, assistant curator at the Sunshine International Aquarium where the anteaters are reared.
    Thanks to Tae, the baby is already twice its weight from the original 340 grams when it was born a month ago and is growing up healthily. However it has no name because the zookeepers still don't know what sex it is.
    "It's still early, so until it gets a bit bigger we won't know what sex it is. At the moment though, I've got a feeling that it's a boy," Tomiyama said, adding that they are also planning to do genetic tests to speed up that process.
    Officially called southern tamandua, they are recognisable by their elongated snouts and creamy yellow brown fur.
    It takes one year for the anteater to reach maturity, and they can grow up to 35 inches (88.9 centimetres) in length with tails up to 16 inches (40 centimetres). Having no teeth, using instead long sticky tongues to lick up ants from anthills and juices out of fruits, some species are known to eat up to 35,000 ants and insects each day.
    The baby anteater spends most of its days and nights attached to its mom - lying under her while it's asleep and clinging on her back when it's awake.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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