The giant anteater is the largest of the four types of anteater found in South America. It is an insectivore, meaning it eats insects. 

Giant anteaters like to live alone, although their territories may overlap. They are not dangerous to humans but will fight if they are afraid. They have extremely sharp claws which can easily kill or injure a person.

Anteaters are not endangered but the number of anteaters has fallen by 30% between 2000 and 2010. This is due to loss of forests, hunting for their meat and body parts and due to road accidents. The anteater population grows very slowly due to several things: they are large animals, they only have one baby at a time and they eat only a few kinds of food.

Predators include big cats, such as jaguars and pumas. 

insectivore: an animal that eats mostly insects

territories: area, land that belongs to them

overlap: share, cover the same area

population: the number of animals

Giant anteaters have very long snouts with small toothless mouths at the end. They also have sharp claws on their front paws and long, sticky tongues - up to 2 feet long (0.6m)! They use their razor-sharp claws to dig up anthills and termite mounds. They put their tongues into the holes made by these insects which then stick to their tongues and the anteater pulls them out. Their tongues can flick in and out of their mouths up to 150 a minute!

They have poor eyesight but an excellent sense of smell. This helps them to find food.

Anteaters have long bodies with black and white fur and long, bushy tails. The skin under their tails is covered with scales! Their tails are very important. They keep the anteater warm, provide shade and camouflage. Also, anteaters can sit on their tails for extra height. Anteaters spend about 16 hours a day sleeping, wrapped in their tails to keep them warm. This is because the food they eat does not give them a lot of nutrition or energy. 

Giant anteaters reach 6-8 feet (1.8-2.4m) in length, including the tail. They weigh between 60 and 100 pounds (27-45kg).

Anteaters can live up to 14 years.

 snout: nose and mouth area

flick: move quickly

scales: small, hard, bony plates (like on a fish or lizard)

camouflage: a way to hide 

Can you guess what is an anteaters favourite food? That's right! Ants! They also love to eat termites, insects that look and live a lot like ants do.

Anteaters use their long sharp claws to tear open ant and termite nests and then they use their long, sticky tongues to pull up the insects. They can eat about 140 insects each meal. But they will eat up to 3000 insects every day! 

If they need to, they will eat bird's eggs, grubs or soft fruit but 80% of the time, they eat insects.

grubs: insect babies

Baby anteaters are called pups. Mother anteaters will have one pup at a time.

The pups drink their mother's mild for the first few months. Then, they continue to drink milk, but also begin eating ants. They will stop drinking milk when they are about 6 months old. 

The pups ride on their mother's backs. Their mums cannot pick them up because of their long claws. 

Pups stay with their mums for a year or two before they can live on their own.