A 25-year camera-trap study on giant anteaters – the longest ever on the species – has revealed that they are altering their behaviour in response to rising temperatures.
Researchers conducted 34 camera-trap surveys across 23 sites in northern Bolivia, which contain a mosaic of habitats such as tropical forests, tropical savannahs and montane forests (found on mountain slopes).
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The findings, published in the journal Xenarthra, reveal that giant anteaters were more commonly found in tropical savannas with patches of forest rather than in areas dominated by Amazonian rainforest.
The researchers also discovered that giant anteaters change their behaviour in response to higher temperatures in savannahs, becoming increasingly active during the night when the temperature drops. Whereas in tropical rainforests, in which temperatures are typically cooler, they displayed primarily diurnal (daytime) activity.
The team suggests that patches of forest provide important thermal refuges, highlighting the need to conserve these environments, as well as the wider rainforest habitat.
“This study demonstrates the tremendous value of camera-trap surveys and long-term wildlife monitoring,” says Robert Wallace, senior conservation scientist for Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Bolivia and lead author of the study.
“By studying giant anteaters across decades and in different ecosystems, we can see how they respond to environmental conditions today while also gaining insights into how climate change and habitat loss may affect them in the future.
“Conserving both forests and natural savannahs will be essential for the long-term survival of this remarkable species.”
Giant anteaters are currently listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, as they face threats from habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting, road mortality, attacks by domestic and feral dogs, and wildfires.
Read the full findings here: Now you see me, now you don’t: giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) activity patterns and relative abundance in the tropical grasslands and forests of Bolivia
