The Rescue Center Costa Rica is a wildlife rehabilitation organization based in Alajuela, Costa Rica. A recent post from wildlife vet Giovana Miranda and the Rescue Center shows a baby anteater suckling from a bottle. Miranda captions the video: “Prettiest thing you’ll see today– an anteater getting fed throughout my time working at the @rescuecentercr “
Miranda says while it’s an opportunity to deal with such unbelievable native species, she states: “To be truthful I would be better if [the anteater] had the opportunity to have his mama nursing him instead of her getting assaulted by a dog and him becoming rehabbed by us.”
Hopefully, the young, most likely orphaned anteater will be releasable and get a 2nd possibility at a regular life in the wild.
Watch a child anteater drink from a bottle here:
There are 4 types of anteaters in the world, 3 of which live in Costa Rica. The nation is home to lower anteaters (or tamanduas), smooth anteaters, and giant anteaters. This child looks like it might be a lower anteater/tamandua, but it’s not specified in the post.
Did you observe how the young anteater’s long tongue sticks out as he consumes? Anteaters typically nurse their infants for about six months before the younglings wean and begin to consume ants.
A wildlife rehabilitation center in Costa Rica posted a cute video of a rescued child anteater suckling from a bottle.