Larger Than Life? Body Mass Records of Zoo-Managed Giant Anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla).
anteater
growth
obesity
size
weight
Journal
Zoo biology
ISSN: 1098-2361
Titre abrégé: Zoo Biol
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 8807837
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
06 Sep 2024
06 Sep 2024
Historique:
revised:
01
07
2024
received:
02
12
2023
accepted:
21
08
2024
medline:
6
9
2024
pubmed:
6
9
2024
entrez:
6
9
2024
Statut:
aheadofprint
Résumé
It has been suggested repeatedly that zoo-kept giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) have higher body masses than their free-ranging conspecifics. Here, we assess this hypothesis by comparing body mass data of 184 female and 173 male individuals kept in zoos to published and unpublished data of free-ranging animals (n = 215). In zoos, the average adult body mass of all individuals was 45.9 ± 9.6 kg (range 19.2-72.6 kg), whereas body mass for free-ranging specimens was 33.0 ± 2.3 kg (21-45.5 kg). Among those zoo animals in which a sufficient number of subsequent intra-annual measures had been taken, we assessed visually whether regular, annual fluctuations in body mass were evident. We observed regular, likely seasonal, cycles in body mass, which (i) may be plausibly attributed to ambient temperature changes that affect the body temperature of anteaters, and (ii) would likely not have occurred if the animals were affected by obesity. Additionally, we explain our hypothesis that in the case of giant anteaters, the discrepancy in body mass between natural habitats and zoos most likely is not indicative of a generally obese population in zoos, as is typically concluded in the case of similar comparisons in primates, but represents an unleashing of the full growth potential of the species by conditions of optimal energy and nutrient provision. Future recording of not only body mass but also body dimensions is recommended to better compare the body condition of free-ranging and zoo-managed individuals.
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Subventions
Organisme : This research was supported by NRF (Grant UID137968).
Informations de copyright
© 2024 The Author(s). Zoo Biology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
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