At first, being hugged to death by a giant anteater doesn’t sound like such a bad way to go. It’s up there with being caressed by kittens, nuzzled by lambs or tickled by baby goats. But there’s a catch.
You may have seen videos of anteaters standing on their hind legs, arms outstretched as if inviting you in for a cuddle. The gesture looks adorable, but it’s not what it seems.
The giant anteater is one of four species of anteater, all native to Central and South America. They share long, tapering snouts and extremely long tongues, which they use to slurp up ants and termites like smoothies.
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The giant anteater is the largest, growing up to two metres long, and lives in grasslands, savannahs and other open habitats. It has poor eyesight, poor hearing and no teeth. Giant anteaters generally avoid confrontation, but when threatened, they can respond aggressively.
So, in 2012, when a giant anteater in Guajará County, Brazil, found itself cornered by domestic dogs, it did what anteaters do. It reared up on its hind legs and held out its forearms to display its razor-sharp foreclaws - not an invitation to embrace, but a warning sign to back off.
Fearing for his safety and that of his sons, the dogs’ owner approached the giant anteater armed with a knife, but was grabbed by its powerful forelimbs. In the ensuing ‘embrace’, the 47-year-old man suffered multiple puncture wounds from the anteater’s claws, causing massive blood loss. He died at the scene. The anteater was shot dead by one of the man’s sons.
Giant anteaters have four claws on each forefoot, three of which are particularly well developed. They are used to rip open ant and termite nests but can also be formidable weapons.
A post-mortem examination of the man later revealed two 4-cm wounds his left arm, eight wounds on his left thigh, and an injury to the left femoral artery.
A similar incident happened in 2010, when a giant anteater attacked a 75-year-old man who was hunting in Jangada County, Brazil. He also died from severe bleeding after the animal’s claws injured a blood vessel in his leg.
The deaths are deeply tragic, but the take-home message should not be one of fear, but of respect and understanding. Injuries to humans caused by giant anteaters are rare and generally occur when the animals are cornered or provoked.
Fatal attacks are rarer still. The giant anteater is classified as “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List. Habitat loss, vehicle collisions, wildfires and hunting are major threats to the species. For all their fearsome claws, giant anteaters have far more to fear from us than we have from them. So perhaps keep the cuddles for the kittens, lambs and baby goats – and admire the giant anteater from a distance.
