Wild Anteater Pup Naming Contest Winner
Back in November, we announced a naming contest for a wild giant anteater pup being monitored by one of our conservation partners, the Anteaters and Highways Project. This was open to all classes that have attended or hosted one of our education programs or have visited Reid Park Zoo on a self-guided tour. Thank you to everyone who submitted a name; we thoroughly reviewed and appreciated all of your suggestions and explanations! We sent them to the Anteaters and Highways Project team down in Brazil, and they have made their selection:
The winner of the naming contest is “Kiwi”, which was suggested by Mrs. Jackson’s class at Sam Hughes Elementary!
Here is the anecdote the class shared about their selection:
“We chose this name because we thought that the color and texture of a kiwi reminded us of the baby anteater. We also thought it was a very cute and memorable name for a cute and memorable mammal. Kiwi’s are green on the inside, which is the color of luck, and we wish good luck to this anteater [pup]!”
Check out the video below from December of the newly-named Kiwi the anteater pup riding on the back of his mom, Poly:
We also have a current update on Kiwi from the Anteaters and Highways Project team. For the last few months, they have been monitoring him and his mother as part of their research into giant anteater movements. When the researchers went out into the field again to fit a collar on Kiwi around the time he would naturally leave his mom, they found that he had already left! Evidently, Kiwi had dispersed (left his mother to move to a new area on his own) before juvenile giant anteaters typically do. The team is still searching for him, but for now we cannot be certain that he will be found. This is something that can happen when you monitor wild animals; they are not always predictable! We here at Reid Park Zoo will remain in contact with the Anteaters and Highways Project team and be sure to update you all on any information we receive.
For more information and fun activities about anteaters, scroll down to the bottom of this page!