Good day, whole wide world! I have heard of the fairly common mixed-species combination of maned wolf and giant anteater, and was wondering what the general consensus on here was about this pairing. I had the chance to see it myself at Montgomery Zoo and, while it was fascinating to see two animals I love so much in the same exhibit together, I saw something surprising. I thought for sure that the wolves would be the species to do the taunting, but the anteaters proved incredibly territorial. Every time a wolf wanted to use a den (and there were plenty for everyone in the exhibit), an anteater would chase it off...and the wolves would race away! They were so skittish! From your experiences, is this kind of reaction rare with this combo? If not, is it nothing to be concerned about, or did I mistake territorial for playful? Hugs and kisses - Bedilda
I don't think it's very common. I have been to over 70 zoological facilities and have never seen it. The Phoenix Zoo lists both together, but every time I go only the maned wolf is out.
Edinburgh used to have this combination. I didn't see any interaction between the species, indeed I didn't see much action at all: the anteaters generally stayed in the den at the top of slope and the wolves in the den near the bottom. If I remember correctly, the anteaters did breed successfully. Someone who visited Edinburgh more frequently might know more than I do. Alan
I think Giant Anteater is a much more dangerous animal than Maned Wolf. I'm not surprised they were dominant.
San Diego Zoo had this combination on exhibit last year, but during my recent visit in September only maned wolf remained.
Perhaps not common but not really rare either. In addition to the three North American zoos (Montgomery, Phoenix, San Diego) already mentioned in this thread, other zoos of the continent that have had this combo include at least Audubon, Boise, Greensboro and Sunset. Not sure how many of them still have it but it has been in use in all of them within the last 5 years. As far as I can understand the consensus seems to be that the exhibits needs to be fairly large and species should preferably be separated if breeding. You also have to consider the individual; even if the same species some specimens are just less "friendly" than others. In general the giant anteater is the boss and that isn't all that surprising. Unless you're the size of a hare or smaller the maned wolf doesn't present much of a threat. It isn't much more than a fox on stilts. Anteaters have been known to defend themself against jaguars -- a predator in a totally difference league than a maned wolf.
Was it on this thread that i saw that Giant Anteaters have been responsible for human deaths before either in the wild or captivity or both
