First baby of 2023 born at Cincinnati Zoo

The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden has announced its first animal birth of the year, with 9-year-old Isla the tamandua giving birth to a pup. The sex of the infant has not yet been identified.

The endearing newborn tamandua (Photo courtesy of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden).

“The birth window for tamanduas is 130-190 days, and Isla’s pup came at the very end of that window,” expressed Cincinnati Zoo’s zoological manager Julie Grove, in an organizational release.¹ “Our Zoo Volunteer Observer (ZVO) team has been monitoring Isla’s every move since mid-November, and our care team has performed regular ultrasounds to track fetal development. Isla’s keepers have established an amazing bond with her, and she cooperates fully with ultrasounds and other health-related procedures.”

Updates on the Cincinnati Zoo's TikTok account displayed the tremendous efforts the tamandua care team dedicated to managing her pregnancy. On a recent Cincinnati Zoo Tales podcast episode, zookeeper Colleen Adams offers additional insight on Isla and her prenatal care.

Because the tamandua pup had a long birth window, Zoo staff members will able to engage in a baby pool. Each date/time guess of the birth was $5 and all proceeds will go to the Anteaters & Highways project. The winner is to be among the first to see the baby up close.

The tamandua is also referred to as the “lesser anteater,” and has a long snout that sniffs out ants, termites, and bee colonies. The long claws allow it to dig into nests, and a long sticky tongue licks up insects. In fact, one tamandua can eat up to 9,000 ants in a single day.¹

Reference

First baby of 2023. News release. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. January 5, 2023. Accessed January 6, 2023. https://cincinnatizoo.org/news-releases/first-baby-of-2023