In August 2026, we travelled to California in the USA. We visited the San Francisco Zoo and saw an amazing animal there — a giant anteater! It immediately caught our attention with its unusual appearance, long snout and huge, bushy tail.
The giant anteater is the largest species of anteater. It lives in Central and South America, where it can be found in savannas, forests and open plains.
Anteaters have no teeth! Instead, they use their very long, sticky tongues to collect ants and termites from their nests. A giant anteater’s tongue can reach about 60 centimetres in length.
Anteaters have powerful claws on their front feet. They use them to break open ant nests and termite mounds. These claws are so large that anteaters curl their toes inward and walk on the outer sides of their front feet.
Despite its unusual appearance, the giant anteater can run quite fast and is a good swimmer. Its huge, bushy tail is more than just a decoration — when resting, it can cover itself with its tail like a blanket.
Interestingly, an anteater usually does not completely destroy an ant nest or termite mound. It feeds there for only a short time before moving on to another place. This allows the insect colony to recover. I think that is very sensible!
The giant anteater is a very unusual and beautiful animal, and it was exciting to see one with our own eyes at the San Francisco Zoo.
Now you can take a look at the photos of the beautiful anteater we saw!
