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| a biologist with his subject: A.Gomez |
A new study by a Brazilian conservation group shows that the giant anteater population growth has been cut in half due to road kills. Giant anteaters,
Myrmecophaga tridactyla are very distinctive animals, which use their extended, fused jaws and long tongues to lap up 30,000 ants and termites a day. Between January 2017 and December 2019 researchers from Bandeiras e Rodovias (Anteaters and Highways) project tracked 44 anteaters with GPS, interviewed truck drivers and monitored over 50,000 miles of highway in the Cerrado savanna, a grain growing area serviced by a large fleet of trucks. They recorded 725 road kills. The anteater is nocturnal, slow moving and has poor hearing and eyesight. In other words a walking obstacle for motorists, especially at night. Many drivers expressed remorse over collisions with anteaters, but said trying to avoid an animal that steps in front of a truck with a long, heavy load would be disastrous. The fragmentation of their natural habitat make road collisions more likely. Brazil's truck fleet grew by 2.8% per year from 2011 to 2017 with almost 2 million vehicles on the road by the end of that period.
Researchers equipped study animals with a reflective vest containing the GPS transmitter which reported the animals location every twenty minutes.
The Bandeiras e Rodovias organization is working with interested parties, including highway personnel to educate the public about wildlife and the effect of motorized traffic on anteaters and armadillos, another species subject to being squashed by traffic. The collected GPS information shows those points at which animals are crossing frequently. This information could be used to build culverts allowing anteaters and humans to cross the road safely.
