A long-awaited baby southern tamandua has been born. The mother is "Natsu" (5 years old) and the father is "Coco" (estimated to be 17 years old).

Natsu arrived at Ueno Ueno Zoo in 2016 from Kochi Prefectural Noichi Zoological Park. After a meeting with Coco through the cage, they were allowed to live together, but they were not fortunate enough to have an opportunity to breed (please see this article for more information on Natsu's arrival and attempts at breeding).

Since their arrival at the zoo, we have been working to try and facilitate breeding. First, we measured hormones from the two dogs' feces to determine their estrus cycles. We plan to predict Natsu's estrus period and then house them together accordingly.

On the other hand, when they are not in heat, we prepared a room for Natsu that is far from Coco's room so that Natsu and Coco can live in completely separate environments. We thought that since they are very sensitive to smells, it would be more stimulating for them if they were kept in separate places normally rather than next to each other, when they do come into contact for breeding.

Furthermore, Coco is the oldest Southern Tamandua in Japan. Therefore, we reviewed her diet to manage her health. By switching to a compound feed that provides sufficient fiber and a diet mainly consisting of vegetables, she no longer gets sick in the summer.

However, despite these efforts, mating behavior could not be observed even when the two were kept together. However, hormone measurements suggested the possibility of pregnancy, and an ultrasound examination conducted at the end of March 2019 confirmed the presence of a fetus.


Taken on June 15, 2019
The gestation period for southern tamanduas is said to be 130 to 160 days. We predicted that the baby would be born sometime in April and proceeded with preparations for the birth. Southern tamanduas are often born prematurely, and mothers often have difficulty nursing their pups, so we prepared for artificial feeding and waited, but there were no signs of labor for quite some time. Then, on the morning of May 13th, when we saw the baby on Natsu's back, we were filled with relief.

The baby was found to be male and was named "Sun." The name was chosen because it is Coco's third offspring, the first two babies, "Hinata" and "Asahi," were named after the sun, and it is the third generation of southern tamanduas at Kochi Prefectural Noichi Zoological Park.

Sun still often rides on Natsu's back, but sometimes he gets off to explore the area near his mother, or chases after Natsu by crossing logs, and his range of movement is expanding. Please come and see Sun's growth at Bird House on the second floor of the East East Garden of Ueno Zoo Zoo.

[Miki Ogawa, Animal Care and Exhibition Staff, Ueno Zoo East Garden]

(June 24, 2019)