Up to 15,000 ants may be eaten by one anteater each day. Anteaters primarily eat ants and termites – up to 30,000 a day. Giant anteaters range from Honduras in Central America to the Gran Chaco region of Bolivia in South America, and are found in tropical and dry forests, savannas, and grasslands. [6], Anteaters are mostly solitary mammals prepared to defend their 1.0- to 1.5-mi2 (2.6- … The average anteater can eat up to 30 thousand ants or termites per day. South American anteaters eat an average of 3,000 ants a day The tamandua, meaning “catcher of ants” in the Tupí language of eastern Brazil, eats both termites and ants and often uses the same pathway day after day in search of food. What do giant anteaters eat? Anteaters are not herded animals; they prefer to lead a solitary lifestyle. Giant anteaters are well adapted to feast on their favourite foods – they are poorly sighted but use their keen sense of smell to detect ant and termite nests and then their sharp claws to rip them open. Anteaters sleep for up to 15 hours a day and spent the rest of the time eating ants. Interesting Facts About Anteaters. If we assume this is the high end of how many they can consume in a short period it would take 34 anteaters to fully consume Million ants. :-), Hi, Marco! An Anteater Will Eat up to 30,000 Ants or Termites a Day "While anteaters will eat primarily ants and termites, it's not uncommon for them to enjoy fallen fruit," says Schwartz. Giant anteaters have no teeth, but a specialized tongue allows them to eat up to 30,000 ants and termites each day. 4. However, they can play with each other in the zoo. Their head harbours a 61cm (24 inch) long tongue which can flick out 150 times in a minute allowing them to quickly take many ants. "They eat super-ripe, soft fruit like mangos and avocados that have fallen to the ground. Anteaters are edentate animals—they have no teeth. This tongue of the giant anteaters has a very crucial design which enables it to consume as much as 30,000 ants and termites a day. But their long tongues are more than sufficient to lap up the 35,000 ants and termites they swallow whole each day. They also so sleep for 16 hours a day so 30,000 ants every 8 hours. The Giant Anteater (myrmecophagus tridactyla) can eat up to 30,000 termites per day. There is an abundance of these creatures in the world and so anteaters have evolved to keep the number of ants … Giant anteaters can eat up to 30,000 ants a day. Anteaters spend about a minute at each anthill eating as many ants as they can, then move on to the next one. Jaguars and cougars are an anteater’s main predators. This is covered in small spines which assist the anteater to eat the insects. 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