The giant anteater is one of the most unique mammals in the world, and also one of the most threatened. As their name implies, giant anteaters are insectivores that primarily eat ants and termites. Giant anteaters are virtually blind, finding their prey by using their excellent sense of smell, which is 40 times more sensitive than a human's. They have enormous claws on their front feet, which are used to tear open ant nests and termite mounds. Their sticky tongues can reach up to 18 inches and move in and out of their mouth at a rate of almost 3 times per second. Since they have no teeth, giant anteaters crush the insects against their palate. Their stomach also has hardened folds that constrict to grind up the insects, a process assisted by the small bits of sand and soil that the anteater ingests. Though they don't produce stomach acid, the formic acid that ants and termites secrete help with the digestion process. It’s been almost 20 years since Argentina launched what was at the time the world’s first attempt at reintroducing the giant anteater to a landscape it had disappeared from, and now the population has grown from zero to around 200.
