SThe journalistic profession does not provide for tender loving care given the required distance, even to a valued and sometimes positively judged subject of reporting. In the case of Ines, however, one can make an exception: after all, the giant anteater is the new sponsored animal of the FAZ in the Frankfurt Zoo. And according to her caregiver Silja Fiedler, she is “the dearest anteater on earth” anyway.
Publisher Carsten Knop was also convinced of this at the introductory meeting on the occasion of the award of the certificate under the guidance of anteater expert Fiedler – while stroking the fur, which “feels quite bristly”. This was followed by checking the claws and feeding them yoghurt, live mealworms and larvae of the beetle, the delicacies on the menu of termite and ant hunters. Ines trustingly ate out of Knop’s hand with her tongue, which was up to 60 centimeters long. “I warmly welcome Ines to our FAZ family. The giant anteater is now becoming something of our editorial mascot, after we grew very fond of Tambo,” says Knop.
The black howler monkeys were rarely seen
That Tambo, whose full name has been Tambopata since the naming by FAZ reader Heiko Mußmann, whose name proposal received the most votes in a vote on FAZ.NET in 2021, will leave Frankfurt. There is a reason for this: Tambopata and his family were audible. Roaring is not just immortalized in the name, but is part of the nature of the black howler monkey. But a zoo is also and perhaps primarily there to look at, how fearfully lions or tigers hiss, how beautifully birds chirp and whistle. The gracefulness of the animals, their blaze of colour, their elemental force and their cuteness want to be seen.
But Tambo and her parents, her father Santiago, who has died in the meantime, and her mother Lawa, rarely allowed that to happen. Her screams often greeted the zoo visitors at the cash desk because the howler monkey enclosure was right next to the entrance area. But since the birth of the offspring female howler monkey in May 2021, the small family has almost always retreated to an area above the panes under the roof of the facility, to a corner where they could not be seen.
The black howler monkeys and their enclosure at the zoo didn’t really go together. The zoo therefore decided to make an exchange and offer the howler monkeys to another animal park as part of the exchange program regulated by stud books among the zoological gardens. So Tambo will move with mother Lawa and little sister Punuckel and give birth to offspring like mother and sister.
Quiz on the FAZ patent animal
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What do you know about giant anteaters?
The giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) who already live in the immediate vicinity: they recently shared their open-air enclosure in Ukumari Land with the howler monkeys, and if they want a roof over their heads, they can retreat to the new indoor enclosure in future. For the FAZ it is reason to rededicate the sponsorship and from now on to support the next tenants of Tambo’s family with the sponsorship contribution for at least three years.
With a bit of nostalgia: The previous FAZ patent animal Tambopata will leave Frankfurt.
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Image: Lucas Bäuml
Hope for existence through FZS
“Large anteaters fascinate with their unique shape. The body is narrow, the head long and tubular, the arms strong, the tail long and bushy. Large anteaters have a good nose, they are extremely defensive and should not be underestimated. The approximately 130 cm tall animals find their prey, termites and ants, with their noses. On the front feet there is a 10 centimeter long, strong sickle claw, which the anteater uses to pry open termite structures and which they also use for defense. If necessary, they take on jaguars themselves,” says zoo director Christina Geiger. “So anteaters are the perfect godparents for a newspaper like the FAZ with a good nose, which also takes on controversial ideas.”
Mutual sniffing: FAZ publisher Carsten Knop (left) hands Ines (right) mealworms.
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Image: Lucas Bäuml
FAZ editor Carsten Knop likes not only the good nose, which he also wants for his editorial team, that the giant anteater offers so many facets, right down to culture. For example, the poet Sabine Scho dedicated a poem to him.
a quiet poor tooth, ants in his stomach, i saw the rain forest burn and an anteater too
Thoughtful and concerned, Scho pays tribute to the anteater. The efforts of the zoo and also the Frankfurt Zoological Society (ZGF), which are committed to the preservation of the species on the one hand and the preservation of the natural habitat on the other hand, give a little hope for the existence of the animal species, which is endangered according to the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). , they live in Central and South America in both the savannah and the rainforest, where they have difficulties with logging, hunting and industrial agriculture. FZS has been making an important contribution to protecting their habitat in Guyana, South America, since 2014. She works with the National Conservation Authority to help preserve the Kanuku Mountains wilderness area.
The giant anteaters in the zoo only had offspring last June: despite his huge stature, Kanuku still loves to be carried on his mother’s back. The distinctive black and white fur markings of mother and child then merge into one another, so that the young animals are well camouflaged and protected. Ines had already had offspring in 2018 after coming to Frankfurt from the Zlín-Lešná Zoo in the Czech Republic in spring 2017, where she was brought together with Falin.
Large anteaters have a long tradition in the zoo: the species was shown as early as 1951, and almost 20 years later the zoo succeeded in breeding them for the first time.